Community health resource project: highlighting One Health resources across rural Georgia to build healthier communities

TL;DR

The paper introduces a strengths-based approach to identify and highlight health resources in rural Georgia communities to foster healthier, more empowered populations.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel method using Participatory Asset Mapping to emphasize existing One Health assets in rural communities.

Findings

Analyzing county-level data provides an initial health landscape overview.

Participatory Asset Mapping gathers community insights on One Health resources.

Asset maps and reports can guide workforce development in underserved areas.

Abstract

Public health professionals frequently engage with residents of rural Georgia to conduct needs-based initiatives, which aim to identify deficiencies and shortcomings in community health. However, this process can exacerbate existing stereotypes and lead community members to feel a sense of despair in their own communities. The Community Health Resource Project (CHRP) offers a counterbalance through a strengths-based approach by highlighting animal, plant, human, and environmental resources, or “One Health” assets, that currently exist in the community. CHRP begins by analyzing publicly available county-level data to gain an initial understanding of the health landscape before proceeding to the field. Next, the team engages in Participatory Asset Mapping (PAM) to gather community-driven qualitative insights on existing One Health assets in participating rural or underserved counties. Data gathered from community engagement strategies inform the development of comprehensive county-specific asset maps and reports. This paper describes the methods of applying a strengths-based approach to highlight community One Health-related assets. These strategies can be a valuable tool for developing targeted workforce development efforts in resource-limited counties for the benefit of all species.

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