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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Cheryl Merzel, DrPH1, Donna Vallone, MPH, MPhil1, David Abramson, MPH2, Luci Chambers, BS1, Ngozi Moses, MPH3, Agnes O'Connor, CSW4, Sharon Rumley, RN, MPH5, Jo L. Sotheran, PhD1, and Arnold Woods, MSW6. (1) Dept of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168 St., New York, NY 10032, (212) 305-3577, cm449@columbia.edu, (2) Mailman School of Public Health, Dept. of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, 722 W. 168 Street, New York, NY 10032, (3) Brooklyn Perinatal Network, 30 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217, (4) Suffolk County Perinatal Coalition, 475 E. Main St. Suite 207, Patchogue, NY 11772, (5) Queens Comprehensive Perinatal Council, 106-46 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, Jamaica, NY 11433, (6) Economic Opportunity Comission of Nassau County, 134 Jackson Street, Hempstead, NY 11550
Community-academic partnerships increasingly are viewed as a vital approach for public health research and practice. Successful models of implementing and sustaining partnerships can help guide current and future efforts. We report on a collaboration between a school of public health and four community-based organizations (CBO) on a federally-funded maternal and child health service program. The university is grantee and CBO are lead agencies in their communities, responsible for planning and implementing services. The academic partner provides training and technical assistance, prepares grants and reports, and conducts the evaluation, freeing community partners to focus on program services and agency development. Advantages of this model include the absence of competition for scarce service resources due to differences in organizational mission and focus. The structure leads to greater clarification of the roles of academic and community partners and allows each to contribute its own areas of expertise. Academics can provide the latest relevant research findings, which communities then can utilize on a grass-roots level. Disadvantages of partnering with a university include greater value and reward placed on research rather than service in the larger academic institution; less developed relationships with the service sector; an inability to share resources within a largely grant-supported structure; and relatively high administrative costs. Lessons include the importance of having a neutral broker trusted by all in the early stages of the partnership to help establish procedural and functional relationships. A focus on and commitment to community capacity-building by all parties is critical in developing and sustaining the partnership.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Community Collaboration, Community Capacity
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.