Lessons Learned from Community Partners: Strengthening a Mini-grants Process to Advance Health Equity

BACKGROUND: The Be ActiveWV Grant Program aims to increase equitable access to physical activity throughout the state of West Virginia using mini-grants awarded to community-based organizations. Although health equity is a priority in this program, and questions have been added to the application to convey this focus, consideration for health equity is noticeably absent in mini-grant applications and evaluation reports. Thus, more research is needed to understand how to bolster the health equity initiatives in the Be ActiveWV Grant Program. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this article is to overview lessons learned from community partners and to recommend specific strategies to enhance academic-community partnerships and the mini-grant process in service of health equity. METHODS: Online surveys and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 former mini-grant applicants. The lessons learned presented in this article are a reflection of process notes, data analysis notes, thematic analysis, and conversations among WVU researchers. LESSONS LEARNED: The five lessons learned include 1) build capacity early, 2) facilitate connections, 3) collaborate with communities to develop and disseminate project-related resources, 4) support project promotion, and 5) interact with intention. Rationale is provided for each of the lessons presented, as well as suggestions for how researchers and practitioners might translate these lessons into actionable items.