The Leaders in Health (LIH) program strengthens community health initiatives through introductory training in public health research and science. Further, the program is a joint initiative between the Prevention Research Center on Nutrition & Physical Activity and the Office of Diversity & Inclusion at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Moreover, the goal of this 8-week program is to build the capacity of our community partners by providing participants with an introduction to public health, including the fundamentals of community-based participatory research (CBPR) and program design & evaluation. Likewise, they are looking for a diverse group of participants who represent organizations in the Greater Boston area that are working to improve population health.

Program Content

Topics covered during the Leaders in Health Program include:

• Public Health Principles & Practice
• Community-Based Participatory Research
• Health Equity
• Nutrition & Food Systems
• Further, Physical Activity & Built Environment
• Project Planning & Implementation
• Program Evaluation
• Public Speaking & Policy Advocacy

Within the first few weeks of the program, members identify a project that they are working on which they think could be enhanced by LIH principles. Then, over the second half of the program, participants create action plans, construct logic models, and examine evaluation and implementation strategies to help translate their knowledge into practice.

During the final week of the program, LIH participants presented an outline of the key components of their projects, such as specific aims, target population, activities, outcomes, and LIH concepts that they applied.

Benefits

Individual participants will benefit from:

• Professional development, in areas including public health research methods, application of up-to-date evidence-based research, project planning, and evaluation
• Likewise, networking opportunities with leaders in the public health profession and other participants from local organizations
• Opportunity to present research and publicize your project
• Further, certificate of completion and help incorporating the program into your résumé
• Stipend upon completion

Organizations that support an employee’s participation will also benefit from the program.

Eligibility

• If you live or work in the greater Boston area and are currently involved with a health prevention-related program or project (on either a work or volunteer basis) you are eligible to apply. Topics might include nutrition and physical activity promotion, violence prevention, sexual health promotion, or tobacco control efforts.
• Eventually, the program will be limited to 10 participants.
• Community-based work is at its best when all members of the community are represented:

1. Leaders in Health encourages applications from participants of all ages,
2. education levels,
3. races,
4. ethnicities, and
5. gender/sexual identities.