Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Introduction/Background: The American Heart Association’s National Hypertension Control Initiative (NHCI) collaborated with health care professionals and public health advocates to facilitate listening sessions for learning collaboratives (LCs) to discuss ways to address hypertension (HTN) through Clinical-Community Linkages (CCL) in five regions. CCLs have been recognized as essential for effective HTN control.

Research Questions/Hypothesis: LC knowledge exchange sessions can play a crucial role in strengthening CCL by fostering relationships to address social determinants of health (SDoH) and enhancing HTN control collaborations in health care.

Methods/Approach: From October 2023 to April 2024, the NHCI participated in HTN-focused LC listening sessions in 5 regions, utilizing CDC’s CCL approach to identify key stakeholders' engagement level. LC listening sessions facilitated knowledge exchange identifying recommendations for improving HTN. NHCI developed a 10-item assessment for data collection and conducted a thematic analysis.

Results/Data: An estimated 210 community and clinical stakeholders participated in six LC listening sessions, five virtual and one in-person, providing insights for optimizing CCL for better HTN control. Findings highlighted five major barriers to implementing CCLs. Barriers that hindered CCL optimization include staffing shortages, low health literacy, lack of funding, an absence of leadership buy-in, and low patient engagement. One consistent insight that emerged as integral was incorporating Community Health Workers. Self-Measured Blood Pressure (SMBP) monitoring tools and the AMA MAP™ framework, along with capacity-building resources were deemed effective approaches. Building stakeholder relationships and addressing SDoH were frequently highlighted as good practices. The top three SDoH factors identified as influencing HTN control were nutrition security, transportation, and income.

Conclusion: LC listening sessions allow for knowledge exchange providing insights on advancing and sustaining CCLs to improve HTN control. Innovative pathways for sustainable improvement and advancement of CCL consist of staff and patient education tools, training, capacity building, bi-directional referrals, and solution-oriented advocacy efforts.