Measuring coalition functioning in community-based partnerships through core indicators

Background/Significance: There is growing recognition that community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a viable approach for addressing health disparities. The CDC REACH U.S. program supports coalitions engaged in CBPR to eliminate health disparities among underserved communities, and the ability for collaborators to function effectively is intrinsic to coalition goals. Methods: In Spring 2010, core questions for the REACH U.S. grantee partnership survey were collaboratively identified to assess partnership areas including trust, decision-making, and impact, in addition to socio-demographics and partnership information (e.g. coalition size). Descriptive statistics and means of Likert scaled items are computed, and psychometric characteristics of each measurement scale are analyzed. Cronbach's alphas assess the internal consistency of each construct. Results: Eight coalitions administered the survey; to date, 64 responses from 4 coalitions have been collected. Ninety-two percent of respondents were female, and 56% had been a coalition member for more than 2 years. Sixty-three percent believed that members' capacity to work well together in the past year had increased; 75% of individuals agreed or strongly agreed that they were satisfied with coalition progress in the past year. Subsequent analysis will include responses from additional coalitions, and psychometric properties of the measurement scales will be examined. Discussion/Conclusions: This partnership assessment will inform the extent that this survey can be used by community-academic coalitions to evaluate their health partnerships. Future administrations will add data and allow us to describe how scale constructs change over time.