A University of Kansas work group that focuses on improving community health has been redesignated a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for another four years.
The KU Work Group on Community Health and Development was first chosen as a WHO center in 2004, according to school officials.
Stephen Fawcett, a Kansas Health Foundation distinguished professor, will continue to direct the project along with Jerry Schultz, the work group’s associate director.
The work group developed a website, the Community Toolbox, which has information to help various groups develop efforts at improving community health.
“We are honored to continue in this extraordinary network of centers working to assure conditions for health and human development,” Fawcett said in a prepared statement. “As a WHO Collaborating Centre, we have opportunities to learn and contribute with those who are working for health equity around the world.”
KU officials said the work group is part of a small number of organizations with a similar mission in the Americas, including the University of Toronto, University of São Paulo in Brazil and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The KU work group works with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), one of WHO’s six regional offices. Officials said its primary objectives were “to expand the evidence base for health promotion efforts and to build capacity for community health and development globally using the resources of the…Community Tool Box.”
Officials said the web site distills decades of the work group’s research and practice to help groups plan, implement and evaluate community health and development initiatives. The site has more than 7,000 pages of resources and has had more than 2.3 million users in 224 countries.
In Community Tool Box also is available in Spanish. Among other things, its users can access case studies on promoting maternal and child health, nutrition, physical activity, sanitation and water quality.
The work group is located at 4081 Dole Human Development Center on the KU Lawrence campus.
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