Our Work
How We Work: The IPHN Model
We build bridges between faith communities and public health experts to promote a holistic public health awareness, cultivate partnerships to transform public health, and advocate for systems and policies that address health disparities, promote health equity, and support health and well-being for all.
We educate and equip faith communities with knowledge and tools to participate in and contribute to the conversation on public health.
We design curricula, host events, facilitate interfaith and intrafaith dialogues, and provide capacity building training to help faith communities understand their local health landscape and how they can take action to address it.
We facilitate partnerships between faith-based organizations and public health experts on public health issues of common concern.
IPHN connects faith-based organizations and public health experts to jointly address a specific public health concern. We also provide support and technical assistance to our partners on joint projects and initiatives.
We transform public health systems and policies through advocacy campaigns and multi-stakeholder coalition building.
IPHN partners with health advocacy organizations to engage faith and faith-adjacent community partners in critical public health campaigns. We also provide organizing and policy advocacy training for faith partners.
Our Initiatives
IPHN partners with faith groups interested in hosting interactive, interfaith discussions focused on public health and social justice, virtually or in-person, with preference for in-person.
Roundtables bring together participants who are active in their faith communities to:
- Increase awareness of public health and learn about the public health landscape in their communities, including underlying determinants of health and evidence-based policy solutions.
- Share perspectives on health and social challenges and identify strengths in their congregations and neighborhoods.
- Discuss faith traditions and texts in the context of social action for public health.
- Integrate learnings into congregational and community health campaigns by creating an action plan to advance identified community health goals.
Facilitating relationships and brokering partnerships
IPHN supports public health-related community projects by facilitating partnerships between faith-based and faith-adjacent community organizations and public health experts and institutions.
We help public health partners engage with faith communities to collaboratively implement public health initiatives. For example, we facilitated a COVID-19 vaccination promotion campaign in the South Bronx.
We also connect faith communities to public health resources, organizations, and funding (if applicable) to carry out a public health campaign that they have identified as a priority for their community.
- We support public health advocacy organizations with faith and faith-adjacent community partner engagement in policy campaigns, including coalition building, advocacy, training, policy and issue analysis, and event management.
- For example, in partnership with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, IPHN organized faith and community leaders in New York City to advocate for and successfully pass the Sweet Truth Act, which requires added sugar warning labels in chain restaurants for items with more than a day's worth of added sugars. This is the first added sugars disclosure policy in the United States in the food service space.
