Success is possible: A community/academic partnership to decrease childhood injury

Background: A main tenet of community-based research is engagement and partnership with community representatives and stakeholders. By uniting strengths, resources and knowledge, there is an opportunity for identifying unique and effective solutions and decreasing the “bench-to-bedside” time lag. Unfortunately, building such partnerships can be an elusive goal.

Methods: Saint Louis University College of Public Health and Social Justice (SLU) and Nurses for Newborns (NFN), a grassroots community organization, collaborated to integrate an evidence-based childhood injury assessment program into the nursing home visitation model. Results: Pilot results indicated that integration of the program could be successful in reducing injury risk with minimal changes to the service delivery model. However, during the project, both SLU and NFN were challenged with the complexities of university versus community environment, culture and expectations as well as standard programmatic barriers such as adequate funds and time, staff turnover and staff resistance to change. Of all the lessons learned, four stood out as major influencers of a successful partnership; (1) plan for and address resource limitation and competing priorities, (2) establish trust and empowerment for all partners, (3) communication is key and consists of more than exchanging information, and (4) enjoy and expand the relationship.

Conclusions: The relationship built between NFN and SLU researchers is an example of how deliberate consideration, planning, and strategizing can produce mutually beneficial and sustainable relationships.