Promoting Health Knowledge Through Community Partnerships
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The Health Knowledge Monitoring and Response System (HKMRS) Pilot is an effort that seeks to test the feasibility of building upon a network of community monitoring, prevalence assessment, and response to disrupt the spread of inaccurate health information and deliver timely, relevant, and accurate health information at the local and national level. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each co-fund this Pilot in support of CEAL’s mission to provide trustworthy information to communities most impacted by health disparities while also establishing community partnerships to foster trust in science and diversity and inclusion in clinical research.
The HKMRS Pilot uses the iHeard St. Louis project developed by the Missouri Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) team. From March 2023 to September 2024, Phase I of the Pilot used community partnerships to test the iHeard model’s potential for building health knowledge and trust in communities in Colorado (CO), Texas (TX), and the Washington, D.C. region, including the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV). Launching in September 2024, Phase II of the Pilot will be conducted by public health organizations in Georgia (GA), Mississippi (MS), and North Carolina (NC).
Objectives of the HKMRS Pilot
1. Leverage local community partnerships to test the feasibility of expanding the iHeard model in different communities and public health settings to evolve a national health information monitoring and response system.
2. Increase public knowledge of consequential and timely health topics and reduce susceptibility to inaccurate information through a centralized rapid-response system.
Components of the HKMRS Pilot
Monitoring and Response System
The HKMRS Pilot sites build on the iHeard model that develops and fields weekly surveys to monitor health topics in real time. These sites enlist trusted community messengers to respond with accurate and timely health information.
HKMRS Sites
| Leads | Partner Organizations |
|---|---|
| MO CEAL Washington University in St. Louis* | DeKalb Public Health (DKPH), Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH), North Carolina Alliance for Health (NCAH), CO CEAL, DMV CEAL, and TX CEAL |
| PHASE II (SEPTEMBER 2024-SEPTEMBER 2025) | |
| DeKalb Public Health (DKPH) | Hispanic Health Coalition of Georgia and the Live Healthy DeKalb Coalition; faith-based organizations such as Beulah Missionary Baptist Church, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, and New Life Community Alliance; and health care providers such as the Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Mercy Care Atlanta, and Southside Medical Center |
| Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) | The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Mayoral Health Councils, and a network of community health clinics, community health workers, and health advocates |
| North Carolina Alliance for Health (NCAH) | The Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority, Green Rural Redevelopment Organization, Healthy Robeson, and other local partners |
| PHASE I (MARCH 2023-SEPTEMBER 2024) | |
| CO CEAL University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus | Servicios de la Raza, Trailhead Institute, Denver Public Health, UCHealth, 2040 Partners for Health, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and other community-based organizations |
| DMV CEAL The Johns Hopkins University | The George Washington University, Morgan State University, Howard University, and University of Maryland, Baltimore, RICH Foundation, SONS of Phoenix, New Lebanon Calvary Baptist Church, Young Successful Leaders Inc., and Medi |
| TX CEAL The University of North Texas Health Science Center | The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, CAN DO Houston, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, University of Houston, and Baylor College of Medicine |
*Serves as the Pilot’s National Coordinating Center
Blue Ribbon Panel
The HKMRS Blue Ribbon Panel includes experts in community-engaged research, program evaluation, health communication science, and dissemination research. The Panel guides sites and the Community Engagement Technical Assistance Center on the scientific rigor of the Pilot, ensuring that evidence-based health communication science methodologies are used in evaluating the feasibility of expanding the HKMRS to a broader—if not national—health information, monitoring, and response system.
National Health Survey
NIH CEAL is partnering with the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) and its FactCheck/SciCheck project to field a national survey on critical health topics. APPC’s data will identify gaps in knowledge across the general public and within demographic subgroups, making it possible to track knowledge, misconceptions, and confusion and determine whether existing messaging affects health behaviors.
The Health Knowledge Monitoring and Response System Pilot is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
Last updated: November 12, 2024