Building an Emergency Department-Led Community Health Education Toolkit

Urban Emergency Departments (EDs) are uniquely positioned for community health education, yet structural barriers such as fragmented scheduling, scattered resources, and limited community awareness prevent consistent outreach. NYU Langone's ED engaged our team to identify community-prioritized education needs and design practical infrastructure to improve the reliability and scalability of ED-led outreach. Using a mixed-methods needs assessment informed by the PMBOK framework and CDC Program Evaluation Framework, we conducted a literature review and stakeholder interviews with four community organizations: the Queer Nightlife Community, NYU Langone Community Affairs, the Brooklyn Public Library System, and Brooklyn Community Board 7. Priority topics included
end-of-life care, chronic disease management, and harm reduction. Our deliverables included three infrastructure components: a centralized staff scheduling system, a repository of ready-to-use educational materials, and targeted community-facing materials to raise ED awareness beyond direct clinical care.