Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #110947

Yanique A. Redwood, MPH, Partnership for Urban Health Research, Georgia State University, PO Box 3995, Atlanta, GA 30303, 404-651-1690, yredwood@umich.edu and Margaret McIntyre, MBA, Task Force for Child Survival and Development, 750 Commerce Drive, Suite 400, Decatur, GA 30030.

The Partnership for Urban Health Research (PUHR) at Georgia State University represents a university-wide commitment focused on the amelioration of health disparities that confront urban communities. PUHR is an interdisciplinary urban health research program developed in partnership with faculty members from several departments including Public Health, Gerontology, Psychology, Sociology, Communication, Anthropology/Geography, Criminal Justice, Law, Social Work, Nursing, Nutrition, and Biostatistics. Faculty members serve together on four Health Research Teams: Chronic Disease and Aging, HIV/AIDS and Infectious Diseases, Injury and Violence, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health.

The Task Force for Child Survival and Development, an organization that has developed expertise in assisting organizations to work collaboratively, is contributing to PUHR's development. Understanding that interdisciplinary collaboration does not occur naturally, we have focused on the following: creating a shared vision; understanding partners' intrinsic motivations and from that developing a value proposition for participants' work together; legitimizing conflicts right up front that are based on differences in culture, language and values; and building opportunities for active learning into the infrastructure of the collaboration such as encouraging partners to regularly interact with those outside of their discipline. Borrowing from business management models, we consider key elements such as structure, style, shared values, and skills when designing a collaborative project focused on achieving critical outcomes. Drawing on the philosophy of language and organizational learning, we work with several approaches to create cross-disciplinary bridges.

Implications for this work, including the transferability of business management models to the field of public health, are discussed.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Identify key aspects of collaboration that should be addressed in the design of interdisciplinary research projects
• Apply business management theory to the administration of health programs
• Recognize the complexity of effective interdisciplinary collaborations and learn how to proactively anticipate and address key issues
• List key tools to assist in improving communication across disciplines.

Keywords: Collaboration, Urban Health

Related Web page: urbanhealth.gsu.edu/home.html

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.