Involving the community and collaborating with its members are cornerstones of efforts to improve public health.  In recent years, for example, community engagement and mobilization have been essential to programs addressing smoking cessation, obesity, cancer, heart disease, and other health concerns. In October 1995, recognizing the importance of involving the community, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the Committee for Community Engagement. Two years later, that committee developed the booklet Principles of Community Engagement, which was published by CDC and ATSDR Principles defined community engagement as “the process of working collaboratively with groups of people who are affiliated by geographic proximity, special interests, or similar situations with respect to issues affecting their well-being” (CDC, 1997, p 9) We will refer to this second edition as a primer rather than a booklet because of its expanded size and scope.

Included in this second edition of the Principles of Community Engagement are the following ideas:

Chapter 1: C ommunity Engagement: Definitions and Organizing Concepts from the Literature
Chapter 2: Principles of Community Engagement
Chapter 3: Successful Examples in the Field
Chapter 4: Managing Organizational Support for Community Engagement
Chapter 5: Challenges in Improving Community Engagement in Research
Chapter 6: The Value of Social Networking in Community Engagement
Chapter 7: Program Evaluation and Evaluating Community Engagement