Community Engagement
Family physicians are uniquely positioned to observe firsthand the health impact that social determinants of health and public policies have on under-resourced populations in our communities. This deep connection with our patients and their families provides us with the opportunity to address health equity issues directly with patients, as well as through research and advocacy within the broader community.
Our team serves the ethnically, racially, culturally and linguistically diverse communities in and around Boston. We collaborate with community partners to pioneer innovative programs in clinical care and health policy, with a special focus on the health of those populations most at risk of poor health outcomes.
Research areas include:
- Engaging youth in community: Our team evaluates best practices for hospital-based youth advisory boards. This work examines how to engage youth to make positive changes in health care.
- Engaging community partners in creating feasible solutions to increase health and wellness in under-resourced communities.
- Religions, medicines, and healing: Our research in this area includes exploring how intersecting cultural and religious identities affect how communities, families, institutions, and healthcare workers provide and receive care to address physical, mental, social, and spiritual health concerns. Populations of particular interest include people from immigrant and refugee backgrounds.
- Supporting Boston HealthNet (BHN) Research Collaborative: Faculty in our department hold leadership roles in this research collaborative, which supports the implementation of community engaged research throughout the BHN, an integrated community health care system dedicated to improving the health of Boston’s many diverse populations.