Key to the ABCD method is the use of partnerships and/or collaborations to create opportunities, to solve problems, or to fulfill needs within the community. The method calls for the drafting and the utilization of an asset map of organizations and associations within the community to serve as a springboard for making crucial connections within the community for possible collaborations or partnerships. Utilizing the asset mapping technique, the Pampa United Way was singled out as the first initial contact within the community. The United Way was crucial in defining the issue and pointed the way to other potential collaborators — both present and future — for the proposed community project collaboration.

THE PROCESS

Illustration: Asset Map

The goal: Utilize Asset-Based Community Development in conjunction with a fictitious medical library dubbed Top Of Texas Regional Medical Library. Apply the method to identify and to address a specific medical/health related need within the community specific to the library. In this case, the library’s constituency consists of the real-life community of Pampa and surrounding Gray County, Texas. The ABCD method approaches community development through the lens of the hopes, the dreams,

and/or the needs of the community as described in the text “Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets” by John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight. The ABCD method takes its cues from the community, and, therefore, calls for solutions or projects to then be addressed within the community using the strengths of the community to forge collaborations and partnerships. These collaborations then create solutions or opportunities to the betterment and to the empowerment of the community as a whole.

Title: Navigating Obama Care — A Proposed Collaborative ResourcePurpose: The purpose of this project is 1) to identify a health-related need, issue, or problem within a specific community using the Asset-Based Community Development assessment (ABCD) method, and 2) to create a plan or proposal to address the need, issue, or problem.Population: The focus for the project is the citizens of Pampa, Texas, and surrounding Gray County, Texas.

Methods: The project, which followed the ABCD method to assessment, took shape through interaction with the community and through interviews with key community organizations and leaders.Outcome: The projected outcome is the realization of a tool to assist community members in navigating the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Website.Implications: It is hoped the proposed collaboration would strengthen the community by forging new partnerships and/or collaborations among organizations while providing a much needed health care resource.

ABSTRACT• Estimated population of Pampa: 17,994• City located in the Panhandle of Texas;• City serves as county seat for Gray County, Texas;• Bisected by US Highway 60 as well as Texas Highways 70, 152, & 273;• Oil & gas industries and agriculture central to economy;• Top three major employers consist of the school district, an oil well service

company, & the local hospital.Figures derived from the United States Census Bureau, the City of Pampa Website, the Pampa Chamber of Commerce Website, and the Texas Historical Commission Website.

OVERVIEW

Through research of online facts and statistics provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services Website and through research derived via personal interaction with the community as well as with leaders and/or organizations within the community, the following health- or medical-related problem was perceived and defined: The need for a navigational tool to guide users accessing www.healthcare.gov, the new national health care Website.

DEFINING THE ISSUE

Navigating Obama Care:

A Proposed Collaborative Resource

by Sky la Bryant

d

c

a) Fictitious Top Of Texas Regional Medical Library.

b) Pampa Regional Medical Center.

c ) Clarendon College-Pampa Center.

d) Pampa United Way.

ba

THE COLLABORATION

PROPOSED COLLABORATIVERESOURCE

LS5363 Health Sciences InformationServices Management with Dr. Carol

Perryman COMMUNITY

Individual interviews were conducted with representatives from the following organizations:

• Pampa United Way• Pampa Regional Medical Center

• HCFS, and• Clarendon College-Pampa Center.

Each expressed a willingness to collaborate with other organizations on community service projects and supported the need for the proposed navigational tool or resource.

The proposed tool would consist of a series of brief video presentations focusing on certain facets of the Website along with links to other resources. The following list is a breakdown of the proposed collaboration based on the information derived from the interviews:• The fictitious library would coordinate outside

resources to supplement the tool as well as coordinate and host a series of townhall meetings for community-

wide input concerning the resource;• The hospital and HCFS would provide knowledge of

the national Website;• The college would provide technological services in the

form of a series of video presentations;• The United Way would promote community awareness

of the tool through the agencies it serves and through its contact with individual community members.