Using a collective impact approach to address structural barriers to physical activity, nutrition, and weight management in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities

Background: Complex social problems, such as racial and ethnic minority health disparities, require broad cross-sector coordination. Collective impact provides a framework for bringing together community based organizations (CBOs), government, businesses, and the broader community to focus on a common agenda; particularly for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AAs and NHPIs) who have historically been unreached by previous population-wide efforts.

Objectives: This Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded project focused on positioning  AA and NHPI CBOs to lead multi-sectoral partnerships through a process of developing and  implementing a community health assessment and policy scan;  a mutually agreed upon community action plan; and a strategic set of evidence-based structural interventions.

Methods: A national AA and NHPI health policy organization and an AA-focused research institution provided resources, guidance, and technical assistance to a nationwide cohort of fifteen AA and NHPI CBOs in eleven states. Three million dollars was distributed among the fifteen CBOs to serve as local backbone organizations for multi-sectoral partnerships focused on improving physical activity and healthy eating.

Results: By adapting and tailoring CDC’s Community Health Assessment and Group Evaluation (CHANGE) tool and utilizing a collective impact approach, the fifteen CBOs collectively reached over 1.2 million AAs and NHPIs in thirteen months.

Conclusion: Utilizing a collective impact approach that is more intensive and focused than typical collaborations can result in not only significant reach into underserved racial and ethnic minority communities but also increased multi-sector infrastructure for sustained success.