Siantz Elizabeth, Center Kimberly, Ikoba Bikere, Greene Joelle, Gilmer Todd P
University of Utah, College of Social Work.
Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Longevity Science, University of California San Diego.
Fam Syst Health. 2024 Dec;42(4):582-593. doi: 10.1037/fsh0000900. Epub 2024 Oct 21.
Community ambassadors (CAs) are advocates that build trust with communities on behalf of service systems and facilitate access to resources. Whether and how CAs can support community engagement within a large initiative to build capacity to address the impact of trauma is unclear. This study explores how a Community Ambassador Network supported community engagement with "Innovations 2 Initiative" (INN 2), a 5-year initiative that addressed trauma across nine communities in Los Angeles County.
CAs were recruited from nine community-based partnerships to participate in a focus group, which explored their roles and experiences with INN 2 and their impact on community engagement. Data were collected in 2022 and were analyzed using a pragmatic two-phase strategy for efficient qualitative data analysis. Twenty-six CAs participated in six focus groups. Participants mostly spoke English (82%), identified as Latinx (50%) or Black (23%) and as cisgender female (48%); average age was 40 years.
CAs implemented workshops and provided health education to the community. They reported being the community's first point of contact with INN 2 and believed they improved credibility of the human service sector. While CAs felt supported by the Department of Mental Health, some wanted more trust from their supervisors.
CAs described various ways that they engaged historically excluded communities in INN activities and the organizational supports that facilitated this work. Training in trauma informed principles and support from their supervisors were regarded essential to this work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
社区大使是代表服务系统与社区建立信任并促进资源获取的倡导者。社区大使能否以及如何在一项旨在增强应对创伤影响能力的大型倡议中支持社区参与尚不清楚。本研究探讨了社区大使网络如何支持社区参与“创新2倡议”（INN 2），这是一项为期5年的倡议，旨在解决洛杉矶县九个社区的创伤问题。
从九个社区伙伴关系中招募社区大使参加焦点小组，该小组探讨了他们在INN 2中的角色和经历以及他们对社区参与的影响。数据于2022年收集，并采用务实的两阶段策略进行分析，以高效进行定性数据分析。26名社区大使参加了六个焦点小组。参与者大多讲英语（82%），被认定为拉丁裔（50%）或黑人（23%），以及顺性别女性（48%）；平均年龄为40岁。
社区大使举办了研讨会并为社区提供了健康教育。他们报告称自己是社区与INN 2的第一接触点，并认为他们提高了人类服务部门的可信度。虽然社区大使感到得到了心理健康部的支持，但有些人希望得到上级更多的信任。
社区大使描述了他们在历史上如何让被排斥的社区参与INN活动以及促进这项工作的组织支持。接受创伤知情原则培训和得到上级的支持被认为对这项工作至关重要。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）2024美国心理学会，保留所有权利）
