Effects of a Changing Organizational Ecology on Racial Disparities in Infant Mortality

Abstract

For a seven-year period, the disparity in birth outcomes between Blacks and non-Hispanic Whites in one

Exploring relationships among organizational capacity, collaboration, and network change

“…This study examined dynamics of one particular network with a bounded population of organizations that provided services, information, and opportunities to new and expecting mothers in Dane County, Wisconsin, USA. This network of organizations was targeted for investigation specifically because of the likelihood that these organizations played roles in the reductions in the BIMR that occurred during the early years of the 21st Century (see Sparks, Faust, Christens, & Hilgendorf, 2015). While some aspects of the current study limit generalizability to other contexts, findings do provide insights into how collaboration and organizational capacity in a diverse population of organizations may have been influential in the reduction in health disparities for infants and expecting mothers.…”

“…This research project investigated the hypothesis that greater levels of collaboration and organizational capacity may have preceded or coincided with the decline in the BIMR in Dane County. This hypothesis was based on theory and findings from other research (see Darnell et al, 2013 for a recent example), as well as on qualitative interviews carried out with key informants during the first phase of the study (see Sparks, Faust, Christens, & Hilgendorf, 2015). Therefore, the current study explores (1) how organizations in Dane County are situated in the collaborative network over time, and (2) if organizational capacity, as understood through assessments of organizational learning and effectiveness, is associated with the collaborative activity of these organizations.…”