This Fall, Dr. Ben Schwartz of the Fairfax County Health Department’s Division of Epidemiology and Population Health presented his research on trust, belonging, social cohesion, civic engagement, and community engagement to the Fairfax Food Council work groups. He explained that individuals and organizations should strive to intentionally incorporate these ideas in their work. A few key points from his presentation were:

• A lack of trust leads to a lack of adherence to public health recommendations.
• From his focus group, Dr. Schwartz found that mistrust in public health institutions/initiatives is higher among African Americans within the county. In contrast, concern regarding the accessibility and cultural acceptability of public health resources is higher among the Latinx community.
• To make change, think intentionally about trust.
• Belonging applies to individuals, whereas social cohesion applies to groups.
• Social cohesion links trust, belonging, and engagement.
• Communities build power with engagement and advocacy, which affects health policy.

The Food Council thanks Dr. Ben for sharing this information, generating ideas that may be included in the next Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), and discussing actions that can be taken to unite people and communities!