Community development is a multifaceted field where practitioners strive to understand and enhance the social, economic, and environmental assets of a given community. The Lamm Lab just published research in the journal Community Development offering a fresh perspective. Authored by Dr. Katie Sanders, Nekeisha Randall, Dr. Alexa Lamm, and Dr. Kevan Lamm, this research used a mixed-method approach and a unique instrument, the Community Diagnostics and Social Impact (CD+SI) Toolkit, to investigate the dynamics within a rural community involved in the federally-funded public health initiative, Healthier Together.

The CD+SI Toolkit is more than just a research tool; it’s an operationalization of the Community Capitals Framework. This framework enables practitioners to identify and measure various forms of capital within a community, including social, political, built-financial, natural, cultural, and human capital. By leveraging this toolkit, researchers aim to uncover the intricate web of community resources and how they evolve during the implementation of projects like Healthier Together.

The study takes a deep dive into the rural community under scrutiny, unveiling not only the presence of the community capitals but also how the project influences them. Participants in the study rated social capital as the most prominent, followed by political, built-financial, natural, cultural, and human capitals. Social capital, which pertains to the networks and relationships within the community, stood out as the most significant form of capital. This finding implies the fabric of community relationships plays a critical role in shaping the success of public health projects.

The full manuscript can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.1080/15575330.2023.2214802

Community members gardening