Team-building activities as strategies for improving community-university partnerships: lessons learned from Nuestro Futuro Saludable.

BACKGROUND: Collaboration characterized by mutual capacity building, asset sharing, and tangible outcomes that work to further health equity are central tenets of community-based participatory (CBPR) approaches to research. Such efforts require the establishment, development, and maintenance of trusting relationships between community and institutional stakeholders.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the strategies discussed here was to strengthen a community-academic partnership by facilitating communication and empowering project partners.

METHODS: Team-building activities and experiential exercises were intentionally utilized with project stakeholders to clarify roles and responsibilities, provide alternative avenues for authentic communication, and share power.

LESSONS LEARNED: Team-building activities can be effective in promoting CBPR partnerships when utilized appropriately. Through the course of the partnership building process, best practices emerged for utilizing experiential learning exercises to enhance partnership dynamics.

CONCLUSIONS: Team-building activities provide a useful tool for developing supportive environments that encourage open dialogue.