Coalitions are almost ubiquitous in current community-based health promotion efforts. One of the frequently cited benefits of coalitions is the mechanism they provide for pooling resources to address a community concern. Despite the acknowledgement of what coalitions can add to a community initiative above and beyond a single agency effort, research on coalitions has rarely included resource mobilization as an intermediate indicator of effectiveness. The added capacity, or synergy, created through collaboration has not been explored in most of the recent research on coalitions. This presentation examines the relationships between coalition characteristics (such as structure, level of formalization, communication, decision-making, leadership and staffing, etc.) and resource mobilization in 20 healthy communities coalitions. Resource mobilization is conceptualized as having both physical and social capital dimensions. Data were collected as part of an evaluation of the California Healthy Cities and Communities initiative. A self-administered mailed survey of members of the governance groups of 20 healthy cities and communities initiatives (n=338, response rate=71.9%) was conducted. These governance groups, or coalitions, are more diverse and grassroots-oriented than many health promotion coalitions, with 16% of the members describing themselves as interested residents, 12% representing community-based organizations, and only 13% representing the health sector. Measures of resource mobilization and their associations with coalition processes and structures will be described. Implications for community health promotion initiatives will also be discussed.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participants will be able to: 1) describe approaches to measuring resource mobilization in coalition-based health promotion initiatives 2) describe relationships between coalition characteristics and intermediate indicators of effectiveness
Keywords: Community Collaboration, Community Building
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.