Faith in Action is a +10 year partnership between academia (SDSU) and faith-based organizations to increase physical activity levels of Latina women in San Diego County. In a second installment of the program, the goal is also to sustain free physical activity classes in churches even after grant funding ends. The successes and lessons learned from this collaboration can be telling for other types of health programming that hopes to reach church-goers in San Diego County.

The session will share lessons learned and recommendations for strategies that can help establish and strengthen partnerships across sectors to implement and advance sustainable community health programming. As the program has now been completed in participating churches, we have been able to see where the program is successfully being sustained and where it hasn’t, teaching us important lessons about the perceived benefits to the community and the organization of running health programs.

Some of the lessons learned from this partnership that will be presented are: Aligning goals and priorities, building trust, adapting to evolving needs and circumstances, clear and open communication, and balancing research with program implementation and partner/community/ organizational needs.

Participants will leave equipped with potential strategies for cultivating and sustaining impactful collaborations between academic/research institutions, community organizations, and faith-based organizations. By tapping into the unique strengths and assets each partner provides, programs can be adapted to be culturally relevant and contextually tailored for each site to provide comprehensive services that uplift the overall well-being of the community.

Learning objectives

1. Explore collaborative models between academic institutions, community organizations, and faith-based organizations (FBOs) aimed at promoting community health and well-being.

2. Identify key lessons and best practices for effectively engaging faith communities in collaborative health initiatives from the perspectives of diverse stakeholders.

3. Develop actionable strategies to initiate or strengthen collaborations between academic/organizational entities and local faith-based organizations (FBOs) to address physical activity promotion and overall physical health.