Creating community partnerships and synergies in promoting cardiovascular health: Strategies used and lessons learned

Community partnerships are often used to address issues and disparities in the community. Heart disease and stroke are the first and third leading causes of death among Asian Americans over the age of 65. In response to the emerging needs for evidence-based, culturally appropriate interventions to decrease cardiovascular disease (CVD) disparities among Chinese Americans, the Chinese American Healthy Heart Coalition (Coalition) was established in 2000 to address the need for CVD, stroke and diabetes through prevention and education in New York City. The Coalition has grown from 4 partner agencies at inception to a collaboration of over 30 organizations from the community. The goal is to develop and implement a comprehensive, culturally and linguistically appropriate community-based invention to increase awareness of CVD and its risk factors. The Coalition embraced the key concepts of the asset-based community development models: (1) coalition-driven: members involved defined and developed mission statement, roles and responsibilities; (2) asset-based: coalitions engaged individuals, associations, and institutions in program planning and execution; and (3) neighborhood-specific: members were involved in designing programs that were built on strengths and resources of the community. The Coalition has developed a comprehensive network to create culturally-appropriate health education and prevention programs as well as a valuable resource for the community. The presentation will discuss strategies used in creating community partnerships and synergies to address cardiovascular health disparities among the Chinese American community and share the process involved in sustaining and managing a coalition as well as lessons learned through this collaborative venture.