C o m m u n i t y H e a l t h I m p r o v e m e n t
C o l l a b o r a t i v e

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The mission of the Community Health Improvement Collaborative (CHIC) is to improve the health (including mental health) of diverse communities in Los Angeles through effective academic-community partnerships that facilitate evidence-based community-relevant interventions. In addition, CHIC aims to develop, implement and improve the coordination of research efforts and training programs to reduce unmet need and disparities in major health conditions across several major research Centers and research training programs at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, Charles R. Drew Medical University, and RAND Health. Table 1 summarizes research fielded through CHIC, highlighting tracer conditions, broad health monitoring, and research training.

CHIC seeks to produce high quality practical trials through community partnerships and by considering the community and organizational context of the trials. Practical trials use rigorous observational and experimental designs to inform decisions by health care systems, providers, patients and their families, and the public.

CHIC's focus is on poor and indigent populations in multicultural, urban communities and on four exemplar health conditions: depression, diabetes, obesity, and the psychological responses to violence among children in four thematic areas:

Public Participation (PP), which builds on a rigorous community partnership model in all phases of research;

Health Information Technology (HIT), to facilitate disease management, outcomes measurement, and operations of trials and systems communication;

Community Context (CC), which focuses on assessing local organizational and cultural context for practical trial implementation, and adapts intervention implementation strategies for these contextual factors; and

Practical Trial Design (PTD), which supports the particular methods and operations for practical trials.

 chic Partners Contact Publications