CARE: Community Alliance for Research and Engagement

The City of New Haven has a rich history and culture that enhances the quality of life for all residents. But today the health of our community is threatened by chronic diseases typical of many urban centers, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and asthma. CARE was established in 2007 to identify solutions to New Haven’s health challenges through an approach known as community engaged research.  We aim to  improve the health of New Haven residents through visionary leadership, community engagement, collaborative community-based research, and dissemination of findings. 
We have developed unique collaborations between Yale scientists and the New Haven community. This unprecedented alliance includes community organizations, neighborhood associations, hospitals and health centers, city government and public schools, faith communities, arts and cultural institutions, businesses, Yale University and its School of Public Health, and other academic partners domestically and globally. We bring evidence to action to improve health. 


Headline News

New Haven Health Survey Overall Findings 2012

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In the fall of 2012, CARE collected health surveys from 1,295 residents in six of our lowest resource neighborhoods: Dixwell, West River/Dwight, Fair Haven, Hill North, Newhallville, and West Rock. Households were randomly selected from a citywide list of addresses and interviewed over two months by a team of 20 trained surveyors from the New Haven community. Seventy-three percent of residents who were approached chose to participate in the survey. Residents were asked questions about their health, diet, exercise, tobacco use, social support, and safety in their neighborhood. Similar surveys were conducted in 2009. 

Included here is the overall findings from this 2012 community health survey. CARE will shortly release additional reports, including comparisons to the 2009 survey and national data. Throughout March and April we are running a series of community dialogue meetingsto hear from residents how we can bring this evidence to action for better health in New Haven.