Community Engagement
Building trust and creating meaningful change within the communities we serve
The College of Health embraces the University of Utah mission of engaging communities to promote education, health, and quality of life. College of Health students, staff, and faculty cultivate meaningful partnerships to address community needs through partnership.
Community Impact
The College of Health is dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of those in our community through innovative research, education, and service. Our faculty, students, and staff work to address health challenges and promote wellness.
We are engaged in various programs and activities that have impacted over 57,000 community members. This included teaching and learning initiatives as well as health promotion programs that have benefited many people. We've collaborated with 176 local partners to identify and address the health needs of our community.
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Our Work In the Community
Our office is a forum for students, staff, faculty in the College of Health to share and promote activities that benefit the local, national, or international community. We have representatives from each of the departments in the College of Health and strong collaborations across the institution and throughout the Mountain West region.
Our goals are:
- Improve the health of the communities we serve
- Develop the capacity of professionals from a variety of disciplines to identify and respond to community priorities
- Share new innovations in community engaged research
Research and Learning
Research Groups
The College of Health has research groups dedicated to community engagement. These teams work closely with community partners to address real-world health challenges.
Teaching & Learning
Understanding community engagement sets the foundation for what makes these programs possible. Courses on community engagement and instructional support helps in making teaching and learning accessible and successful.
"Community engagement at the College of Health is about relationships and trust. Our partnerships are fundamental to our mission of having a meaningful impact in the communities where we live, learn, work, and play."
Community Engagement Partners
The Wellness Bus is a mobile prevention program whose goal is to reduce chronic disease and improve the health of our communities.
The Osher Center for Integrative Health focuses on promoting healthy lifestyles and wellness towards patients, employees, trainees, and health care professionals.
The Center for Community Nutrition engages individuals in adopting healthful eating habits to enhance health and prevent chronic diseases.
Faculty Spotlight
Drs. Jeff Rose (Parks, Recreation, and Tourism), Danielle Littman, and Sarah Canham (Social Work) are rethinking how research is done with people experiencing homelessness.
Along with graduate researchers Talayeh Mirseyed Hosseini (City and Metropolitan Planning) and Ruby Gary (Environmental Humanities), they’ve partnered with nine community members from the Lived Expert Task Group of the Salt Lake Valley Coalition to End Homelessness who bring lived expertise to the project. Together, the group has explored how research can be more ethical, responsive, and collaborative.
They’ve developed guidelines for best practices and are preparing academic publications. Rose, Littman, and Canham say the most rewarding outcome, however, has been the strong relationships and friendships built along the way.
Their work has benefited community members by validating their experiences in an academic context, reaching broader audiences at both local and national levels, and enriching the learning experience of University of Utah students. By centering lived expertise, Rose, Littman, Canham, and their research team are helping ensure that research on homelessness is not only rigorous but also respectful and empowering.
Get Involved
By getting involved, you can make a positive impact on the lives of those in the community!