Cross-CTSI partnership improves community engagement outcomes for both Hoosiers and Pennsylvanians

The Indiana CTSI and Penn State CTSI have teamed up to improve the health of their communities using strategies that have proven successful here in Indiana.

Several years ago, staff in the Indiana CTSI Community Health Partnerships Connections IN Health program became certified in the Strategic Doing framework. The framework focuses on helping groups work together towards open, honest, focused and caring collaboration that generates momentum towards action. The team applied this framework in Indianapolis’s Norwood Neighborhood and organized a multilingual community health fair that provided health screenings, resources, back-to-school items, and education to more than 70 families.

In 2024, the Community Health Partnerships team, led by Karen Hinshaw, MS, was introduced to the Penn State CTSI team during the Association for Clinical and Translational Science Conference. The two groups began meeting regularly with a focus on engaging rural communities, and inspired by Indiana’s success, the Penn State CTSI adopted the Strategic Doing framework into their Schuylkill County task forces. Since implementation, they have used this collaborative approach to develop and distribute health recipes using food pantry staples, pair food access with nutrition education, and support healthier eating habits and improved community health.

As a result of this successful partnership, the two CTSIs co-authored a poster that was presented at the 2026 Association for Clinical and Translational Science Conference detailing the success of their partnership. They intend to continue engaging, exchanging best practices and lessons learned that will allow them to avoid duplicating efforts while maximizing shared experiences.