Enhancing Academic-Public Health Partnerships in Georgia: Lessons Learned from Across the State
Abstract
Establishing and strengthening collaborative relationships between academic public health and public health practice can be mutually beneficial for both entities. State and local health departments often have programmatic needs in community outreach, data collection, data analysis and program evaluation that can be attractive for academics to assist with. Additionally, academics often desire practice partners to achieve research goals or student experiential learning requirements. While many health districts have engaged with academic partners to welcome student interns, achieving deeper, more mutually-beneficial collaborations is possible. Examples include: the Emory COVID-19 Response Collaborative, the Rollins Epidemiology Fellows Program and Cobb & Douglas Public Health’s partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine for the COVID-19 Health Equity Navigator Program. Examining these examples’ components and describing how they transcend transactional engagement to deeply helpful relationships can aid both sectors in cultivating foundations necessary for more fruitful engagement. Emphasis will be placed on ways in which academic-practice partnerships might differ across different parts of the state (e.g., metro Atlanta versus non-metro Atlanta). This panel-style session will welcome audience participation and exchange of ideas, especially as we discuss how best to sustain or reinvigorate academic-practice partnerships following the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords
Academic-Public Health Partnerships, Public Health Practice, Partnerships, Cross-sector collaboration
Enhancing Academic-Public Health Partnerships in Georgia: Lessons Learned from Across the State
Establishing and strengthening collaborative relationships between academic public health and public health practice can be mutually beneficial for both entities. State and local health departments often have programmatic needs in community outreach, data collection, data analysis and program evaluation that can be attractive for academics to assist with. Additionally, academics often desire practice partners to achieve research goals or student experiential learning requirements. While many health districts have engaged with academic partners to welcome student interns, achieving deeper, more mutually-beneficial collaborations is possible. Examples include: the Emory COVID-19 Response Collaborative, the Rollins Epidemiology Fellows Program and Cobb & Douglas Public Health’s partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine for the COVID-19 Health Equity Navigator Program. Examining these examples’ components and describing how they transcend transactional engagement to deeply helpful relationships can aid both sectors in cultivating foundations necessary for more fruitful engagement. Emphasis will be placed on ways in which academic-practice partnerships might differ across different parts of the state (e.g., metro Atlanta versus non-metro Atlanta). This panel-style session will welcome audience participation and exchange of ideas, especially as we discuss how best to sustain or reinvigorate academic-practice partnerships following the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
