College of Public Health and Human Sciences

This article reports on the development and implementation of a community development technique focusing on local access issues for people with disabilities called the Community Engagement Initiative (CEI). The CEI methodology includes a town hall meeting with the disability community, an infrastructure meeting, and resource mobilization activities. Between 2001 and 2004, the CEI methodology was implemented in two rural communities and four urban settings in Oregon. Communities were noted to vary in the number and type of barriers identified, and in the effectiveness of implementing the procedure. Insights into these variations are provided through examination of patterns in the quantitative data and through two case studies. Future activities will focus on developing methods for supporting and measuring change as a result of community development.