Parks, Recreation, and Health Care: Partnerships to Advance Health Equity and Improve Outcomes

The movement toward whole-person care in health care gives community-based organizations an opportunity to collaborate with health care providers and payers. These partnerships allow both groups to leverage their unique and complementary skills, resources, and credibility to establish an integrated health and wellness system that supports the community at large.

Park and recreation agencies offer people places to be active, healthier, and connect with nature and each other. However, if there’s one thing park and recreation professionals know, it’s that partnerships with other community stakeholders greatly enhance their ability to influence residents’ health and well-being.

The National Parks and Recreation Association sought to advance its partnerships by establishing community wellness hubs. These hubs help park and recreation agencies engage key community players, including health care providers, and coordinate services that expand access to and quality of food and nutrition services, while connecting people to additional health and social resources.

To support this endeavor, JSI developed a best practice toolkit outlining considerations for coordinating and implementing partnerships with health care organizations. The toolkit sections are:

1. Preparing to Partner
2. Coordinating Your Partnership
3. Putting the Pieces Together
4. Assessing Your Initiative
5. Sustaining Your Partnership and Initiative

Access the full Parks, Recreation, and Health Care: Partnerships to Advance Community Wellness Hubs toolkit.