Douglas V. Easterling, Ph.D. Doug Easterling is the founder and director of the Division for Community-Based Evaluation, within the Center for the Study of Social Issues at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Through the Division, he served as the principal investigator on evaluations of the Winston-Salem Foundation’s initiative to build social capital and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation’s initiative to improve race relations. Doug has also assisted the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, the Warner Foundation, the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation and The Conservation Fund in designing evaluation systems and clarifying program intent. From 1992-1999, Doug served as the Director of Research and Evaluation at The Colorado Trust. In this capacity, he commissioned evaluations of the foundation’s initiatives (including the seven studies described in this book) and facilitated the foundation’s process of learning from the results. Doug has published articles and books on the topics of program evaluation, community-based health promotion and nuclear waste policy. He also teaches the evaluation module for the Health Forum’s fellowship programs and served on the CENTERED Blue Ribbon Panel, which was convened by CDC to improve the evaluation of projects that aim to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in health. In February 2002, Doug delivered the Fischer Francis Trees & Watts Keynote Address at the Community Trust Conference in New Zealand. Doug holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. in Quantitative Psychology from the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), and a B.A. from Carleton College.
This book provides the first systematic examination of community-based health promotion. Through a series of nine case studies, the book describes what community-driven health promotion means in practice, evaluates its potential for achieving improvements in the health of local residents, and presents promising strategies for initiating, nurturing and sustaining community-based efforts. Relying on the findings from the evaluations of these initiatives, the book is able to make recommendations for effective practice for community-based organizations, as well as for supportive organizations operating outside the community (such as foundations, government agencies, and advisors such as universities and technical-assistance providers.)
