About Us
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Mission Statement
The Center focuses on an important component of sustainable social and economic development: establishing the basis for optimal health for all. Its mission is to promote health and the prevention of illness, disability, and premature mortality. We use the World Health Organization’s definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The Center conducts research, service, and intervention activities that can inform and shape the education of health professionals, and it supports participatory research and community-based involvement in health improvement measures. As part of a public university, the Center values the role of campus-community partnerships in attending to the healthcare and health promotion needs of the surrounding region.
The Center strives to understand and explain the social determinants of health. We collaborate and work with other UMass Lowell centers, institutes, colleges, and departments, along with community-based and advocacy organizations, government, employers, labor unions, environmental and environmental justice organizations, and healthcare provider organizations. We are committed to the pursuit of social justice and the elimination of socioeconomic inequalities in health.
Specific Goals and Objectives:
- Promote collaboration across the multiple disciplines within the university that are involved in public health.
- Examine significant public health questions including but not limited to, those related to effective health education, promotion, and policy.
- Explore the use of health education, promotion, and research to improve public health and health care, with special attention to environmental and occupational health.
- Promote and practice rigorous research using established and innovative approaches including both qualitative and quantitative methods.
- Establish UMass Lowell as a regional base for collaboration around efforts to develop sustainable solutions to public health problems.
- Conduct research and research-related activities regarding the social determinants of health and health disparities.
- Encourage the development of partnerships with agencies and organizations in the
- Develop methods and conduct research focused on preventing disability by facilitating social participation and interaction for people across the full range of the human experience.