1. Key to the ABCD method is the use of partnerships
and/or collaborations to create opportunities, to solve
problems, or to fulfill needs within the community. The
method calls for the drafting and the utilization of an asset
map of organizations and associations within the
community to serve as a springboard for making crucial
connections within the community for possible
collaborations or partnerships.
Utilizing the asset mapping technique, the Pampa
United Way was singled out as the first initial contact
within the community. The United Way was crucial in
defining the issue and pointed the way to other potential
collaborators — both present and future — for the
proposed community project collaboration.
THE PROCESS
The goal: Utilize Asset-Based Community
Development in conjunction with a fictitious medical
library dubbed Top Of Texas Regional Medical Library.
Apply the method to identify and to address a specific
medical/health related need within the community
specific to the library. In this case, the library’s
constituency consists of the real-life community of
Pampa and surrounding Gray County, Texas.
The ABCD method approaches community
development through the lens of the hopes, the dreams,
and/or the needs of the community as described in the
text “Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path
Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets”
by John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight. The
ABCD method takes its cues from the community, and,
therefore, calls for solutions or projects to then be
addressed within the community using the strengths of
the community to forge collaborations and partnerships.
These collaborations then create solutions or
opportunities to the betterment and to the empowerment
of the community as a whole.
Title: Navigating Obama Care — A Proposed
Collaborative Resource
Purpose: The purpose of this project is 1) to identify a
health-related need, issue, or problem within a specific
community using the Asset-Based Community
Development assessment (ABCD) method, and 2) to
create a plan or proposal to address the need, issue, or
problem.
Population: The focus for the project is the citizens of
Pampa, Texas, and surrounding Gray County, Texas.
Methods: The project, which followed the ABCD
method to assessment, took shape through interaction
with the community and through interviews with key
community organizations and leaders.
Outcome: The projected outcome is the realization of a
tool to assist community members in navigating the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Website.
Implications: It is hoped the proposed collaboration
would strengthen the community by forging new
partnerships and/or collaborations among organizations
while providing a much needed health care resource.
 ABSTRACT
• Estimated population of Pampa: 17,994
• City located in the Panhandle of Texas;
• City serves as county seat for Gray County, Texas;
• Bisected by US Highway 60 as well as Texas Highways 70, 152, & 273;
• Oil & gas industries and agriculture central to economy;
• Top three major employers consist of the school district, an oil well service
company, & the local hospital.
Figures derived from the United States Census Bureau, the City of
Pampa Website, the Pampa Chamber of Commerce Website, and the
Texas Historical Commission Website.
 OVERVIEW
Through research of online facts and statistics
provided by the Texas Department of State Health
Services Website and through research derived via
personal interaction with the community as well as
with leaders and/or organizations within the
community, the following health- or medical-related
problem was perceived and defined: The need for a
navigational tool to guide users accessing
www.healthcare.gov, the new national health care
Website.
 DEFINING THE ISSUE
A Proposed Collaborative Resource
d
c
a) Fictitious Top Of Texas Regional
Medical Library.
b) Pampa Regional Medical Center.
c ) Clarendon College-Pampa Center.
d) Pampa United Way.
b
a
THE COLLABORATION  PROPOSED
COLLABORATIVE
RESOURCE
LS5363 Health Sciences Information
Services Management with Dr. Carol Perryman
 COMMUNITY
Individual interviews were conducted with
representatives from the following organizations:
• Pampa United Way
• Pampa Regional Medical Center
• HCFS, and
• Clarendon College-Pampa Center.
Each expressed a willingness to collaborate
with other organizations on community service
projects and supported the need for the
proposed navigational tool or resource.
The proposed tool would consist of a series of brief
video presentations focusing on certain facets of the
Website along with links to other resources. The following
list is a breakdown of the proposed collaboration based on
the information derived from the interviews:
• The fictitious library would coordinate outside
resources to supplement the tool as well as coordinate
and host a series of townhall meetings for community-
wide input concerning the resource;
• The hospital and HCFS would provide knowledge of
the national Website;
• The college would provide technological services in the
form of a series of video presentations;
• The United Way would promote community awareness
of the tool through the agencies it serves and through its
contact with individual community members.