Leadership in Community Partnerships: South African Study and Experience

Abstract

SUMMARYAims: This study examined the influence of leadership in multi-stakeholder partnerships. Four W.K. Kellogg-funded community partnerships in South Africa were evaluated. Participants included community, academic and health service partners. The partnerships aimed to achieve interprofessional community-sensitive health professions education.Methods: We undertook: 1) quantitative assessment (survey, N = 529) of whether leadership skills were systematically associated with three partnership factors (satisfaction, sense of ownership and commitment); and the individual contributions of these factors to the partnerships' outcomes; and 2) qualitative assessment (semi structured interviews, N = 46) of the extent of coalition members' ratings of their leadership, the likelihood of concerns about their leaders; and the nature of these concerns.Results: Quantitatively, partner's positive ratings of their leadership were consistently and significantly attended by better sense of ownership, commitment to and satisfaction with the partnerships. Variance in partnership outcomes was accounted for by leadership skills (26%), ownership (21%), commitment (20%) and satisfaction (11%). Partnership members who rated their leadership highly expressed fewer concerns (qualitatively) about their leaders. These concerns were: leadership visibility, openness and legitimacy; leadership features, styles and characteristics; the consequences of lack of appropriate leadership; and management procedures that were lacking.Conclusions: Coalition efforts would benefit from focusing on factors that are conducive to effective leadership.

Communities Partnering With Researchers: An Evaluation of Coalition Function in a Community-Engaged Research Approach

“…While public health efforts rooted in local communities (often via CEnR approaches) have been successful in addressing complex health problems and reducing health disparities, 4,32,[38][39][40]81 there is limited information that addresses the evolutionary process of researcher/community partnership. 14,57,75,85 Historically, researchers have focused on health outcomes, but those measurements are not always practical for the duration of a project 57,59 and may not address how those outcomes manifested.…”

“…24,25,32,38 In developing countries, it is widely accepted that whole community participation and the engagement of specific partners is essential to the success of health intervention programs. 32,[38][39][40] Rural communities in the U.S. may benefit from the same attention by tailoring user-specific programs. While such communities may share some common attributes, the "one-size-fits-all" approach to addressing health inequities is ineffective since it fails to meet population-specific needs.…”

“…The majority of published literature on CEnR focuses on the structure of partnerships or capacity change in a given community. 11,12,14,24,[37][38][39][40][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62] In comparison to traditional research approaches, involvement of the community has been found to enhance project quality, likely due to the unique perspectives offered by engaged partners. 48,63 Research demonstrates that employing CEnR may strengthen the quality of findings, 63,64 improve health outcomes, 14,63,[65][66][67][68][69][70][71] and reduce health inequity.…”

Capacity Needs in Community-Based Organizations for Enhancing Translational Research in Puerto Rico

“…22 However, a considerable amount of advance work is required to build a successful CAP. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29] Because EBPs are at the heart of public health translational research efforts, we focused first on assessing knowledge, attitudes, and experience related to them among CBOs, with the overall objective of developing training programs to address areas of need that will better prepare CBOs to enter into CAPs.…”

Capacity Needs in Community-Based Organizations for Enhancing Translational Research in Puerto Rico

“…22 However, a considerable amount of advance work is required to build a successful CAP. 23-29 Because EBPs are at the heart of public health translational research efforts, we focused first on assessing knowledge, attitudes, and experience related to them among CBOs, with the overall objective of developing training programs to address areas of need that will better prepare CBOs to enter into CAPs.…”