Salud Familiar en McKinley: A Unique Community-University Partnership between a Diverse University's Public Health Program and the Local Immigrant Elementary School

Since 2007, San José State University's Health Science Department and McKinley Elementary School have been involved in a unique, committed, and extraordinarily effective partnership to co-create the cultures, confidence, environments, and resources for health and academic success among the McKinley community. With the school as the organizing center and moving slowly at first, Salud Familiar has stimulated significant and sustained increases in parent involvement, student achievement, teacher engagement, family health behaviors, access to critical resources for health, and the place and priority of health in the overall school environment. Salud Familiar has also stimulated measurable changes in college students' understanding of immigrant health issues, cultural humility, respect for community-based work, and appreciation for schools as critical public health sites. A secondary goal of Salud Familiar is “confianza con la universidad” – community trust and confidence in SJSU as a reliable resource for community resilience – and support for a college-engaged culture in the neighborhood. A coordinated and reinforcing set of activities, including 13 large family health events each year put on by the college students, weekly meetings of 3 health clubs (mothers, girls, and young children), classroom health education, networking with other community-based organizations and resources, monthly food distribution at school to 125 families, joint fundraising and sustainability planning, and active collaboration with local government and other decision-makers have transformed the boundaries of the school and the university. Results of process and outcome evaluations between 2005 and 2012 will be presented. Partnership structure, commitments, and recommendations will be discussed.