Positive deviance is an approach to program development, evaluation, and research which leads to asset-based solutions and messages that come from within and build upon the strengths of communities. It has been used across the globe to identify low-cost, easily accessible health interventions using community-engaged methods. This session will provide attendees with an understanding of:
1. What the positive deviance approach is
2. Why this approach is valuable in public health and health care settings
3. How the approach has been used to address common health care issues, and
4. What the future of positive deviance in research and practice looks like

Presenter Alex Foster, MD, MPH is a pediatrician-public health scientist who directs the MD-MPH program and serves on the Epidemiology faculty at the University of Oregon Health Sciences University-Portland State University School of Public Health. His research interests focus on addressing obesity in childhood, particularly for low-income populations at higher risk of continued obesity and the subsequent associated complications. Dr. Foster’s research work has focused on understanding what assets communities have and building off of those, and he has also examined using parent mentors as an intervention model to support behavioral change.