CBPHP view health in its multiple dimensions - physical, mental, spiritual, social - and their collective community impacts and implications. That is, the issues of disease and health exist as part of the complex of problems that face all facets of society. And, in the context of inner city neighborhoods and communities as essential part of the struggles of marginalized individuals and families who are burdened by inequality, exclusion, isolation violence, a general lack of sense and reality of community. This view brings into sharper focus the importance of opportunities for purposeful human interactions, (the bedrock of CBPHP goals and strategies) as essential elements in fostering people's capacities through simple acts of mutual supports, towards inclusive community building as means for disease prevention and health promotions.
Inclusive community building in the present context revolves around supports to nurture opportunities for diverse inner city neighborhood individuals and groups to sharpen their awareness, develop relationships and cognitive skills to think critically and consciously - against overwhelming odds - to choose, and nurture healthy, wholesome neighborhoods. This orientation to disease prevention and health promotion is not to be confused with "victim blame" and misplaced and often misleading idea that disease and health are mainly individual and/or family responsibility. Rather, it seeks to recognize the unique needs as well as the strengths of marginalized groups and individual. It serves to empower and reorient deficit models of health promotion to engage people as active participants in the process of disease prevention and health promotion.
Within the present, sometimes misplaced debates and conflict over health care in the nation, the CBPHP approach to disease prevention and health promotion, serves as a comprehensive model of supports to mediate systematic, institutional processes and interpersonal constraints of health care arrangements. We have used as our focus and case study, Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) to build a foundation for collective local knowledge creation and supports for health promotion. The choice of CSHCN was predicated on CBPHP principles that an intervention model to meet the complex needs of these children and their families can be easily extended to other vulnerable groups within and outside Detroit, the immediate study area. The study approach and principles included the following:
Other CBPHP disease prevention and health promotion initiatives include:
CBPHP documents on disease prevention and health promotion include the following: