CHI strengthens communities and families to promote health
and social behavior practices across the life-span for improved
quality of life. To accomplish this, CHI integrates social,
behavioral, and economic research and extension activities.
K-State Research and Extension employs approximately 300
research scientists, 180 faculty specialists and program
leaders, 270 county and area specialists, and 400 support
staff in 23 departments. Personnel are located at the main
campus, in area offices, and in 105 local offices. Faculty
scientists, extension specialists, and local agents contribute
to the CHI mission.
CHI's efforts are guided by goals that address broad community
health issues and for which we can measure progress. These
goals, K-State Research and Extension's (KSRE) long-term
intended outcomes (LTIOs), support KSRE's mission.
Working with other KSRE staff, collaborating
faculty, and external partners, CHI focuses on these LTIOs
defined by KSRE:
- healthy and sustainable communities
- positive adult quality of life
- positive youth development
- healthy eating and physical activity
To attain these LTIOs, CHI builds
on these strengths:
- behavioral, economic, and social scientists housed in
five colleges who are conducting research on nutrition,
physical activity, and life span human development processes
and prevention strategies
- the statewide K-State Research and Extension system bringing
knowledge to local community leaders through face-to-face
training, technical support, consultation, and distance
learning technology
- trained extension community health professionals and
volunteer leaders with expertise in nutrition, physical
activity and positive life span development
- and the ability to serve a diverse population, in diverse
settings, with a diverse work force.
Kansas State University has the unique capacity to be an
international leader in community health research, education,
and extension activity. A premier Land Grant University has
the responsibility and capacity to engage in community efforts.
The Kellogg Commission report on the future of state and
land-grant universities titled “Returning to our Roots:
The Engaged Institution” illustrated the capacity and
opportunity for Land Grant Institutions, such as Kansas State,
to take a leadership role and respond to the need for integrated
research and extension community-based efforts. “Yesterday’s ‘ivory
tower’ institutions which were designed to be separate
from society cannot possibly prepare today’s graduates
to help solve the problems of tomorrow.” (p. 3, NASULGC,
1999)
Examples abound of “ivory tower” institutions
attempting to break down their walls to engage in solving
community problems. For example, a recent consensus document
from National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine
(2002) illustrated that community-based research and programs
are likely to be the most effective means to foster positive
development among youth. The National Institutes of Health
(2001) report “Progress and Promise in Research on
the Social and Cultural Dimensions of Health: A Research
Agenda” identified community-based behavioral, economic,
and social research as a high priority research need.
The root causes of health problems do not reside in clinics.
The determinants of health reside in communities and places
where people live, learn, work and play. Land grant universities
are situated best to respond to the significant increase
in NIH resources for community-based health behavior research.
NASULGC documents such as “A Science Road Map for
Agriculture” (NASULGC, 2001) and “The Extension
System: A Vision for the 21st Century” (NASULGC, 2002)
identify the increased attention to health issues for USDA-funded
programs. The K-State Research and Extension Community Health
Institute focuses its work on achieving “Healthy People,
Families and Communities” by fostering collaboration
within and across faculty teams.
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Scope of Work
The Community Health Institute's work integrates social, behavioral, and economic
research with extension activities and crosses boundaries of Kansas State University
colleges, departments, and K-State Research and Extension programs. Institute
faculty collaborate with national, state, county, and community agencies.
Members of the Institute collectively contribute an expansive knowledge
base. Their areas of expertise include kinesiology, human nutrition, sociology,
horticulture, regional and community planning, family studies and human services,
education, journalism and mass communications, agricultural economics, and
statistics.
Collaborating Programs and Internal Advisory
Board
Faculty and administrators in many Kansas State University departments and
colleges devote a portion of their time and resources to achieve Community
Health Institute health outcomes. See the list
of collaborating entities and access links to their websites.
Find out who is on CHI's Internal
Advisory Board.
Structure
The Community Health Institute is structurally decentralized. David Dzewaltowski,
Director, reports to the Director of K-State Research and Extension and
core staff report to him.
Faculty members have formed work groups, one for each of the Institute’s
long-term intended outcomes. However, they remain in their departments, from
which they will lead the Institute and conduct the work. Faculty continue
to report to their Department Heads and resources will be distributed to
them through academic units.
Institute members are committed to building an institute that will strengthen
individuals, families, and communities to improve food, physical activity,
and social behavior practices and, ultimately, improve the quality of people's
lives.
Click here to view an organization
chart for CHI. (This will open a new window.)
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Strategies
The Community Health Institute applies these strategies as it fulfills its
mission:
- Mobilize innovative partnerships and capacity
building
- Facilitate interdisciplinary economic, social and behavioral science
prevention and intervention research that seeks new insights and innovative
solutions to community health problems
- Monitor and track progress on Community Health Institute long-term intended
outcomes and facilitate outcomes-based extension programming to solve these
problems
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Privacy Policy
The Community Health Institute uses information that visitors provide when
they use the message board only for the message board itself. The information
is stored in such a way to be inaccessible by searchbots or hackers. We
will not use any information collected to contact people who visit this
site without permission, nor will we share the information with anyone
else.
