HRSA Funded Grantees Convened in a Strategic Process Intended to Enhance Funding Impact Through Collaboration

HRSA Funded Grantees Convened in a Strategic Process Intended to Enhance Funding Impact through Collaboration

Issues: Facilitating collaboration among diverse community-based organizations (CBOs) to focus on a common public health priority provides an excellent opportunity to address public health issues and leverage resources. Barriers to collaboration can be overcome by leveraging the CBOs dedication and commitment to improving public health outcomes.

Description: In 2006,the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) piloted Community and State Strategic Partnership Sessions (SPS) - designed to foster collaboration among diverse grantees to work on state and/or local public health priority. The sessions include a process of cultivating a collaborative environment among partners, analysis of data, selection of a population based measure and/or public health priority, identification of a champion/leader and development of an action plan to capture agreements and next steps.

Lessons Learned: HRSA Community SPS facilitated collaborative efforts and enhanced HIV testing services provided to women in West Baltimore. Selecting a public health priority provided a common goal and was crucial to successful collaboration among partners. The SPS effort required a modest amount of resources from HRSA and grantees alike. Momentum from the Community SPS resulted in an expanded city-wide meeting that will educate additional partners and their communities on efforts to increase the number of females tested for HIV.

Recommendations: HRSA Community and State SPS model could be replicated among other funding organizations. HRSA will continue to evaluate and assess the overall effectiveness and outcomes of the sessions and monitor the resource investment.