{"id":3060,"date":"2023-05-19T11:01:05","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T15:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/cpl\/?page_id=3060"},"modified":"2026-01-23T10:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T15:30:19","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/cpl\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-4601\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/cpl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1281\/2024\/10\/CPL_Logo_Horizontal-300x88.png\" alt=\"Community Practice Lab Logo\" width=\"325\" height=\"96\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/cpl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1281\/2024\/10\/CPL_Logo_Horizontal-300x88.png 300w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/cpl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1281\/2024\/10\/CPL_Logo_Horizontal-1024x301.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/cpl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1281\/2024\/10\/CPL_Logo_Horizontal-768x226.png 768w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/cpl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1281\/2024\/10\/CPL_Logo_Horizontal-1536x452.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/cpl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1281\/2024\/10\/CPL_Logo_Horizontal-2048x602.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/cpl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1281\/2024\/10\/CPL_Logo_Horizontal-600x177.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px\" \/>The Community Practice Lab was founded in 2020 by Dr. Ryan Lavalley to enhance community well-being by fostering deep and sustainable community-university partnerships. The Community Practice Lab is housed within the Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n<script>\n\n    (function($) {\n        $(\"body, html\").addClass(\"heels_full_width_overflow\");\n    })(jQuery);\n\n   <\/script>\n   <div style=\"background-color:#00594C;\" class=\"full-width-contained whitebackground \">\n<h2 class=\"www-somHeader\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff\">Our Mission<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff\">We catalyze and expand community-driven, sustainable initiatives through creative scholarship, innovative program development, and committed partnerships. We create space for interdisciplinary students, practitioners, and organizations to critically dialogue, deploy analysis rooted in communities&#8217; everyday experiences, leverage strengths-based assessment, and enact justice-oriented action.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"www-somHeader\">Our Methodology<\/h2> We explore and mobilize everyday experiences and occupation, rooted in lived realities, to enhance community and individual well-being through health science practice. Our work is guided by values of abundance, partnership, systemic justice, occupation, and community practice.<\/p>\n<h2><i class=\" far fa-solid fa-seedling fa-1x \" style=\"color:#007fae;\"><\/i> Abundance<\/h2>\n<p>We honor the wealth of strength, skills, knowledge, and history embedded in communities. The CPL initiates partnerships with a strengths-based perspective, and we also celebrate communities&#8217; vitality and resilience before trying to address &#8220;needs.&#8221; We root our work in the lived experiences of both community members and our team. Our abundance-based mindset resists competition and cultivates rich soil in which partnership can flourish.<\/p>\n<h2><i class=\" far fa-solid fa-hand-holding-hand fa-1x \" style=\"color:#007fae;\"><\/i> Partnership<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">The CPL builds sustainable, mutually beneficial partnerships driven by community interests, strengths, ideals, and needs. We believe that community work requires time, energy, and commitment to foster lasting and effective outcomes. Collaborating across organizational boundaries is integral to our approach. We incubate and coordinate innovative solutions to complex problems that foster collective benefits across systems and organizations. As we do, we critically examine social power to respond to institutional dynamics, historical inequities, and societal norms among institutions, communities, and people that could contribute to harm or further injustice. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/cpl\/our-partners\/\">Meet our long-term community partners.<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><i class=\" far fa-solid fa-universal-access fa-1x \" style=\"color:#007fae;\"><\/i> Occupation<\/h2>\n<p>Our roots are in &#8220;occupation&#8221;, or the everyday experience of living &#8211; a construct born from occupational therapy. The CPL&#8217;s occupation-rooted approach encourages us to explore the mundane routines, habits, and happenings of communities. By focusing on occupation, we learn from the processes of community practice, initiative development, and social transformation firmly rooted in the everyday, practical experiences of those with whom we work.<\/p>\n<h2><i class=\" far fa-solid fa-diagram-project fa-1x \" style=\"color:#007fae;\"><\/i> Systemic Justice<\/h2>\n<p>The CPL&#8217;s projects and research focus on systemic justice. Research shows that communities exist within multiple social, historic, and economic systems. Through our work, we learn from our community partners that systemic norms, cultures, and policies contribute to injustices, disparities, and barriers to health and community participation. The CPL builds programming, initiatives, and curricula that are critically evaluated and oriented toward structural and systemic changes.<\/p>\n<h2><i class=\" far fa-solid fa-hand-holding-heart fa-1x \" style=\"color:#007fae;\"><\/i> Community Practice<\/h2>\n<p>The CPL&#8217;s work is rooted in an occupation-based approach to community practice. While occupational therapy has historically served individual clients through the health care system, we are committed to and have experience developing innovative practice areas outside the health care system. We work with community partners to imagine programs that mobilize everyday life, or occupation, for positive community change.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"www-somHeader\">Our Expertise<\/h2>\n<som-cell cell-info=\"{&quot;ID&quot;:4727,&quot;post_author&quot;:&quot;118312&quot;,&quot;post_date&quot;:&quot;2024-10-10 13:26:47&quot;,&quot;post_date_gmt&quot;:&quot;2024-10-10 17:26:47&quot;,&quot;post_content&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;post_title&quot;:&quot;Our Methodology \\u2013 Content Boxes&quot;,&quot;post_excerpt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;post_status&quot;:&quot;publish&quot;,&quot;comment_status&quot;:&quot;closed&quot;,&quot;ping_status&quot;:&quot;closed&quot;,&quot;post_password&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;post_name&quot;:&quot;our-expertise-content-boxes&quot;,&quot;to_ping&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;pinged&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;post_modified&quot;:&quot;2025-06-30 22:32:36&quot;,&quot;post_modified_gmt&quot;:&quot;2025-07-01 02:32:36&quot;,&quot;post_content_filtered&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;post_parent&quot;:0,&quot;guid&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.med.unc.edu\\\/healthsciences\\\/cpl\\\/cell\\\/our-expertise-content-boxes\\\/&quot;,&quot;menu_order&quot;:0,&quot;post_type&quot;:&quot;somcell&quot;,&quot;post_mime_type&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;comment_count&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;filter&quot;:&quot;raw&quot;}\" cell-meta=\"{&quot;_upd_sortorder&quot;:[&quot;1&quot;],&quot;layout&quot;:[&quot;RepeatableBoxes&quot;],&quot;cellInformation&quot;:[&quot;{\\&quot;singleCellBlocks\\&quot;:{},\\&quot;repeatableBoxes\\&quot;:[{\\&quot;includeLink\\&quot;:1,\\&quot;boxText\\&quot;:\\&quot;Coaching\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxExcerptText\\&quot;:\\&quot;We lead workshops, develop training, and provide ongoing consultation to extend your team\\u2019s strengths and goals.\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxUrl\\&quot;:\\&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.med.unc.edu\\\/healthsciences\\\/cpl\\\/impact\\\/coaching\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxImage\\&quot;:\\&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.med.unc.edu\\\/healthsciences\\\/cpl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/1281\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/CPL_Coaching-1.jpg\\&quot;},{\\&quot;includeLink\\&quot;:1,\\&quot;boxUrl\\&quot;:\\&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.med.unc.edu\\\/healthsciences\\\/cpl\\\/impact\\\/strategizing\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxText\\&quot;:\\&quot;Strategizing\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxExcerptText\\&quot;:\\&quot;We incubate, strategically plan, and evaluate programs and initiatives, producing actionable steps to further your impact.\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxImage\\&quot;:\\&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.med.unc.edu\\\/healthsciences\\\/cpl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/1281\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/CPL_Strategizing-1.jpeg\\&quot;},{\\&quot;includeLink\\&quot;:1,\\&quot;boxUrl\\&quot;:\\&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.med.unc.edu\\\/healthsciences\\\/cpl\\\/impact\\\/implementing\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxExcerptText\\&quot;:\\&quot;We administer and coordinate programs and serve on steering committees to add capacity to your work and mission.\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxText\\&quot;:\\&quot;Implementing\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxImage\\&quot;:\\&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.med.unc.edu\\\/healthsciences\\\/cpl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/1281\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/CPL_Implementing_3.png\\&quot;},{\\&quot;includeLink\\&quot;:1,\\&quot;boxText\\&quot;:\\&quot;Communicating\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxExcerptText\\&quot;:\\&quot;We develop theoretical and experiential knowledge produced through everyday experiences of occupation.\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxUrl\\&quot;:\\&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.med.unc.edu\\\/healthsciences\\\/cpl\\\/impact\\\/communicating\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxImage\\&quot;:\\&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.med.unc.edu\\\/healthsciences\\\/cpl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/1281\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/CPL_Disseminating-1.jpg\\&quot;}],\\&quot;boxCustomStyles\\&quot;:{\\&quot;textAlign\\&quot;:\\&quot;center\\&quot;,\\&quot;includeImage\\&quot;:1,\\&quot;includeImagePadding\\&quot;:0,\\&quot;imageAspectRatio\\&quot;:\\&quot;3\\\/2\\&quot;,\\&quot;includeLink\\&quot;:1,\\&quot;backgroundColor\\&quot;:\\&quot;white\\&quot;,\\&quot;columnLayout\\&quot;:\\&quot;4\\&quot;},\\&quot;boxType\\&quot;:\\&quot;imageBoxes\\&quot;,\\&quot;boxStyleOption\\&quot;:\\&quot;content-boxes\\&quot;}&quot;],&quot;apiCallInformation&quot;:[&quot;{}&quot;]}\"><\/som-cell>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Community Practice Lab was founded in 2020 by Dr. Ryan Lavalley to enhance community well-being by fostering deep and sustainable community-university partnerships. The Community Practice Lab is housed within the Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We explore and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/cpl\/about\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about About\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107695,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-3060","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>About - Community Practice Lab<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/cpl\/about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"About - Community Practice Lab\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Community Practice Lab was founded in 2020 by Dr. Ryan Lavalley to enhance community well-being by fostering deep and sustainable community-university partnerships. 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