The Center for Healthy Communities is the lead entity within the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama that is responsible for coordinating community education, research, public service and health activities to help eliminate health disparities, foster access to health care for underserved populations and enhance the capacity of individuals to better participate in decision making about their health.
Serving as director of research at the Center for Healthy Communities since 2006, Arrieta has played an integral role in developing relationships within the community and helping the center remain community-focused.
“Now, as I assume this new role, I am looking forward to guiding the center into the next stage in its development as a community engagement driving force for the Whiddon College of Medicine, the university, and the residents of communities served through our fundamental academic medicine mission,” Arrieta said.
As interim director, Arrieta said her overarching goal for the center is to strengthen the capacity to foster and nourish a dialogue with the communities it serves. “Over its 19-year history, the center has been successful in offering value to area residents through its participatory research projects and community informed programs,” she said. “The center’s sustained work is fundamental to becoming worthy of the trust of the communities it collaborates with. Therefore, the center's longstanding platform will be the basis over which to build a deeper and wider connection with community members.”
During the past 20 years, community engagement has evolved from its initial niche within public health to becoming a recognized interdisciplinary element in the promotion of health equity. “Most notably, both the National Academy of Medicine and the Association of American Medical Colleges now place community engagement at the center of their strategies to foster equitable health outcomes across the nation,” she said. “This is a very exciting time to be a community engagement practitioner, and I look forward to a deeper integration of the expertise and assets of the center into the educational and healthcare delivery functions of the College of Medicine.”
As she takes on additional responsibilities in this new role, Arrieta said she is grateful to the esteemed group of senior staff members in the research core for not skipping a beat.
“I am fortunate to rely on Jillian Bowers, Mary Williams, Lynette Parker and Dr. Antonette Francis-Shearer, who very capably conduct the research and programmatic functions of the center,” she said. “I am confident that our work as an established community engaged research group in the region will continue at a steady pace, even as we look for new opportunities to expand our research and programmatic footprint.”
She also credits Roma Hanks, Ph.D., director of the Center for Healthy Communities’ Community Health Advocates Program and professor and department chair in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, for playing an invaluable role in the success of the center thus far. “As the director of the outreach core, she leads the community health advocates program and is a valuable collaborator in many of the center’s research endeavors,” Arrieta said. “I look forward to Dr. Hanks’ continued contributions, which will, no doubt, increase the potential for consolidation and expansion of the center.”
