Western Michigan University

Senior Consultant, Public Health

Project Title: Examination of local health department partnerships with nongovernmental agencies in improving public health outcomes.

"The New Connections award has greatly impacted my professional development by providing me with a network of peers and experts in the field that have similar interests. I am also able to learn new skills and learn more about how the RWJF impacts the health care of local communities."

Project Description

Local health departments can improve the overall health status of the public, as well as improve their functions and practices, by forming partnerships with non-governmental organizations. These partnerships have helped local health departments to identify and solve problems, expand services and resources and convene members of the local public health system to achieve a common goal.

Barnes' project examines the factors that influence the presence or absence of partnerships between local health departments and non-governmental agencies in improving health outcomes among disadvantaged populations.

As part of her project, she is conducting a literature review on models and tools used by local health departments to engage in partnerships with non-governmental agencies; exploring factors that produce or hinder partnerships between local health departments and non-governmental agencies and determining if these factors are important at certain stages of collaboration for different types of organizations involved; and developing recommendations essential for public health practice.

Biography

Priscilla Barnes is a fourth-year doctoral student in the interdisciplinary health studies program at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. She also works as a health education program manager at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, where she is responsible for program development and evaluation.

Previously, Barnes worked for the National Association of County and City Health Officials as a program manager on the Exploring Accreditation project. She also served as the program director of the Minority Health Partnership (MHP), a section of the Calhoun County Public Health Department in Battle Creek, MI, and as a public health prevention specialist at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Barnes' research interests include the public health system, evidence-based health promotion initiatives, public health and faith community partnerships and health disparities.

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