Discussion suppers as a means for community engagement.

Purpose: This paper describes how Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network (LVHHN), a large tertiary care urban hospital, used discussion suppers as a means for community engagement designed to lead to community health improvement. An overview of the implementation of the project is described.

Project: In 1996, with an awareness of the need to address population-based health improvement, the Dorothy Rider Pool Health Care Trust and LVHHN undertook a multiyear, multidimensional effort to improve health and quality of life in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.