Enhancing collaborative practice

Inter-disciplinarity is about doing more together than we can apart. While the understanding of the complexity of the social determinants of health (SDH) is leading to more multidisciplinary action in community and population health, it is too often done as parallel play.  Much has been learned about the continuum of how we can work together in community; however, experience still shows that there is much yet to be learned about how to apply these concepts in the real world.  

​While some communities are identifying shared concerns & goals, too many of these actions are motivated by compliance with external requirements. Working on shared goals is not the same as “coaction,” which requires a will to change the system and how you carry out business in it. As communities seek to overcome the hurdle of parallel tunnel vision in understanding and addressing their greatest needs, the goal posts must keep moving further downfield towards “coaction.” To achieve this, we need to explore, learn, and practice new ways of working together. How can we continue to move from simultaneous action on shared goals to taking action together to improve the health and well-being of our communities? 

Coaction Institute’s efforts to enhance collaborative practice include:

​Coaction Fellowship

Among the Institute’s priorities is the Coaction Fellowship, a year-long opportunity that builds capacity to lead multi-level, inter-sectorial collaboration for health and social equity efforts. Program components include a monthly study circle and access to an ever-growing resource library, individual development plans and mentoring, and supervised field practice serving local community health efforts. The Fellowship addresses the essence of Coaction's mission to build community capacity for collaborative action that improves health and reduces inequities. It will benefit the community members served by the organizations, agencies and coalitions engaged in the project; most directly, those in which the Coaction Fellows work or volunteer and less directly, those participating in the countywide collaborations. Previous graduates of the Coaction Fellowship are active and successfully contributing to community improvement efforts. Some of their achievements include election to Santa Rosa City Council, a new leadership role at Community Action Marin, program leadership roles at the CA Center for Well-Being, Peace Corps service in Guatemala, and chairing of the Sonoma County Food System Alliance.

​Learn More:  Coaction Fellowship

Participation in Community Boards, Committees & Coalitions

  • Northern CA Center for Wellbeing Board of Directors
  • Petaluma Bounty Community Advisory Board
  • Latino Service Providers’ Testimonios Project Consejo
  • Roseland Public Schools Community Advisory Board
  • Upstream Investments Sonoma County Policy Committee
  • CA Parenting Institute Board of Directors
  • Sonoma County ACES Connection
  • Root Cause Coalition
  • Santa Rosa Together