Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University & Harvard School of Public Health Center for Health and Health Care Disparities

The Center for Healthy Options and Innovative Community Empowerment (CHOICE) is a Center for Health and Health Care Disparities that uses research, training, community partnerships, coalition building and social transformation to create models for eliminating health disparities in both rural and urban communities. Social transformation is a fundamental change in the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of a society such that the laws, practices, policies and activities of individuals chance to reflect a new or different cultural norm. Cultural activism develops a community by connecting diverse people and converting them from spectators to activists in an effort to transform the health, social, and political environments of a community. This center is a joint effort by Florida A&M University (FAMU) and Harvard University School of Public Health (HSPH). FAMU, a designated institution, is the lead, and HSPH is the collaborating institution.

CHOICE is a collaborative research and dissemination partnership that represents an exciting opportunity to harness the strengths of two outstanding American institutions, one an HBCU (historically black college or university) with cutting edge health professional schools and the other an Ivy League school of public health. The partnership is enhanced by an affiliation with Florida State University Center for Health Equity as well.

CHOICE has a special relationship with two communities, Gadsden County, Florida (a rural community of indigent people, the majority African American and many farm laborers), and the urban neighborhood of Roxbury, Boston's poorest predominately African American neighborhood. Each of our Universities has an historic and productive working relationship with residents, community agencies (including health centers) and the local governments on which to build.

Our theme is "Eliminating Health Disparities through Research, Training, Community Outreach, Coalition Building and Social Transformation." The focus of CHOICE is health promotion and disease prevention among African Americans in both urban and rural communities. Our theme reflects a commitment to community leadership in setting a research agenda, carrying out that agenda and translating research into action.