Town and Gown…Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Successful Partnership Academia Between Healthcare

Fragmentation of services continues to be a major barrier in healthcare and public health, which has sparked the need academic-clinical partnerships.  These partnerships create a ‘shared space’ for administrators, clinicians, and researchers to discuss the impact of organizational and Affordable Care Act (ACA) policies. Case study research was conducted describing the development of an alliance between IU Health Bloomington, the largest health care system in Southern Indiana, and the Indiana University Bloomington School of Public Health. Three participatory models aligning with the partners’ strategic areas were developed to reduce health insurance barriers, improve utilization of hospital-based community health services, and reduce disparities among seniors.  Within a two year period, the Alliance has engaged over 40 administrators, clinicians, community organizations, researchers, and undergraduate and graduate students.  The impact of this partnership has resulted in the increase of referrals to Medical Nutrition Therapy to support patients with chronic conditions that are amendable to nutrition intervention; recruitment of participants ages 65 and older to prevent falls, and analyses of healthcare and services datasets to identify barriers for uninsured patients to enrolling in health insurance plans. The Alliance will determine how to best utilize the findings from this partnership and translated to practical applications and the development of policies that enhance population health and well-being.  Additional impact of the project includes:  identifying barriers and facilitators to research in the model; developing mutually important outcomes to guide research; and improving communication across clinical academic lines.  This partnership can serve as a system-based participatory model for other Schools of Public Health and healthcare systems to consider towards enhancing their community engagement activities.