Academic-private foundation partnerships to promote community and population based public health initiatives: A Kansas model

This presentation reports on a unique academic/private foundation partnership between the Wichita State University, Elliott School of Communication and the Kansas Health Foundation. In light of the goal of the Kansas Health Foundation to promote the health of all Kansans, an academic/private foundation partnership was formed involving students in a semester long strategic communication course. The goal of the course was to provide the Kansas Health Foundation with background on critical health needs for communities and populations in Kansas. Students developed four projects that they presented to foundation staff for potential funding. Initiatives included: 1) the "MoveIt" campaign to promote physical activity in 5th graders; 2) the "Filling the Gap" oral health promotion program for caregivers of children from birth to age 3; the SHARE mentoring program for children of divorce and, 4) a needs assessment project designed to identify concerns and barriers for parents to HPV prevention vaccination for their daughters. Overviews of these programs and benefits for students, faculty, and foundation personnel of this type of partnership will be discussed as will guidelines for developing effective academic/private foundation partnerships, course design and student recruitment issues, and class management methodology.