Community coalitions and partnerships are frequently used to promote community health; however, little research to evaluate measurement tools for assessing their effectiveness has been reported. This summary identified measurement tools for coalition or partnership characteristics and functioning. The largest numbers of measures were identified for assessing individual and group characteristics, with impact and outcome measures being the least numerous. Published measures often lacked information regarding validity and reliability, with internal consistency reliability being the most commonly reported statistic. Some measures were well defined, but others lacked conceptual clarity. Valid and reliable tools that can be applied across multiple coalitions are necessary in order to achieve a better understanding of the associations among factors influencing optimal coalition functioning and community health impacts and outcomes.

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A physical activity intervention applied principles of community-based participatory research, the community-based prevention marketing framework, and social cognitive theory. A nonrandomized design included women ages 35 to 54 in the southeastern United States. Women (n = 430 preprogram, n = 217 postprogram) enrolled in a 24-week behavioral intervention and were exposed to a media campaign. They were compared to cross-sectional survey samples at pre- (n = 245) and postprogram (n = 820) from the media exposed county and a no-intervention county (n = 234 pre, n = 822 post). Women in the behavioral intervention had statistically significant positive changes on physical activity minutes, walking, park and trail use, knowledge of mapped routes and exercise partner, and negative change on exercise self-efficacy. Media exposed women had statistically significant pre- to postprogram differences on knowledge of mapped routes. No-intervention women had significant pre- to postprogram differences on physical activity minutes, walking, and knowledge of mapped routes.

The results support an association between level of physical activity and environmental and policy factors in two southeastern counties in South Carolina. Limitations of the study include self-reported data and cross-sectional design.

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