Creating Your Vision

What is your vision for the campus and/or community?

My vision is to gain a better understanding of the socioeconomic influences on health in New York City, share such findings with my campus and local community, and then use my findings to work collaboratively in order to improve the access to and quality of health care more broadly.

Assessing Your Campus and Community

What campus/community problem does your blueprint address? What structures, practices and policies institutionalize the problem?

The problems of lower quality health care and compromised access to health care services exist throughout the country. However, I am focusing my efforts on Upper Manhattan particularly because of proximity to my university. The problem of lack of understanding is also broad, but I intend to work towards informing my specific campus and community about these issues with the hope of making a model and materials that can be applied in other places.

In regards to health care, I genuinely believe that our lack of full understanding at the level of individual activists can obstruct us from acting judiciously (especially when so many factors influence one single hot-button issue of contention). Through a targeted research and information collection effort, I hope challenge this information dearth in order to bring forth well-informed and concrete plans for constructive activism. I also hope that my research design can be used for other issues as well.

What communities will you work with?

• Campus community
• Local community

Setting Goals and Deliverables

• Goal 1: Obtain and distribute high-quality and comprehensive socioeconomic and health information.
• Conduct book and field research concerning socioeconomic influences on health by February 2009.
• Develop a printed guide for interested learners and activists by March 2009.
• Distribute such guide to campus and city organizations by April 2009.
• Develop an accessible health information website by June 2009 to match printed information.
• Goal 2: Increase awareness of relevant health issues on campus.
• Hold at least one health-related documentary screening each semester.
• Host at least one health-related professor discusison panel each semester.
• Recruit at least 15 people outside of the health-group coalition to participate in group activities before May 2009.
• Host at least two health policy forums before May 2009.
• Goal 3: Build a coalition of campus health related groups and develop policy advocacy mechanisms.
• Individually establish ties with all relevant health-related groups on campus before February 2009.
• Organize a joint meeting with leaders of all relevant health-related groups before February 2009.
• Select specific areas of interest (based on my research) for advocacy before February 2009.
• Develop and execute a campus-wide awareness and advocacy campaign for chosen issue before May 2009.

What is your primary approach? Research (Reading, Interviewing, Data Collection, etc.), but will also include the other bullets.

Why did you choose this approach?

Research will allow me to help develop the printed information and subsequent website.

Did you have secondary approaches? What are they?

I will incorporate techniques of network and alliance building, advocacy and activism, and organizing to help spread the information that I discover to a wider audience and to hopefully effect policy change.

What will your tactics and activities be?

Research, coalition building, meetings, and discussions will be my main tactics.

Connecting Back to Vision

How does your strategy contribute to your vision for your campus and/or your community?

I think that making a group of people better understand (or more literate) concerning a specific concept depends on having the "teacher" be literate in that concept. By looking at this subject material in a new way, I hope to put a different perspective on the table and get people engaged!

Resources and skills you will need

What skills do you need for this approach?

Research: Internet/Textual, Data Collection and Interpretation, Writing
Networking: Interpersonal skills, communication skills.
General: Resourcefulness, determination, connection to a long-term vision, flexibility (in order to accommodate new developments or changes in plans).