Network formation, governance, and evolution in public health

Abstract

Background Collaborative networks of health organizations have received a great deal of attention in recent years as a way of enhancing the flow of information and coordination of services. However, relatively little is known about how such networks are formed and evolve, especially outside a local, community-based setting. This article is an in-depth discussion of the evolution of the North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC). The NAQC is a network of U.S. and Canadian organizations that provide telephone-based counseling and related services to people trying to quit smoking. Methodology The research draws on data from interviews, documents, and a survey of NAQC members to assess how the network emerged, became formalized, and effectively governed. Findings The findings provide an understanding of how multiregional public health networks evolve, while building on and extending the broader literature on organizational networks in other sectors and settings. Specifically, we found that the network form that ultimately emerged was a product of the back-and-forth interplay between the internal needs and goals of those organizations that would ultimately become network members, in this case, state-, and provincial-level tobacco quitline organizations. We also found that network formation, and then governance through a network administrative organization, was driven by important events and shifts in the external environment, including the impact and influence of major national organizations. Practice Implications The results of the study provide health care leaders and policy officials an understanding of how the activities of a large number of organizations having a common health goal, but spanning multiple states and countries, might be coordinated and integrated through the establishment of a formal network.

Strengthening the evidence and action on multi-sectoral partnerships in public health: an action research initiative

“…It is only through collaborative ventures that make best use of available resources, skills and talents that lasting advancements may be made in the prevention and control of chronic diseases such as cancers, heart disease and mental illness. [4][5][6][7][8] Consistent with this perspective, the Public Health Agency of Canada's (PHAC) Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention (CCDP) launched the Multi-sectoral Partnerships to Promote Healthy Living and Prevent Chronic Disease initiative in 2013 (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/fo-fc/ mspphl-pppmvs-eng.php). This initiative supports multiple partnership projects involving public and private organizations to advance the use of evidence-informed interventions that address common risk factors for chronic disease.…”

Awareness of Evidence-Based Practices by Organizations in a Publicly Funded Smoking Cessation Network

“…In this regard, the role of a formal governance entity; specifically, NAQC's NAO, was especially important (cf. Moynihan, 2009; Provan et al, 2011). The NAO's main role was to bring together the many funders, providers, and researchers that were involved with quitline activities, encouraging interactions across the network and facilitating learning, especially for enhancing quitline efforts to get people to stop smoking.…”

“…This evidence, coupled with the potential for quitlines to treat larger numbers of smokers than other methods, contributed to a dramatic increase in tobacco treatment quitlines in the last 20 years (Anderson and Zhu, 2007). The first US quitline was started in California in 1992, and based on the efficacy of this and other early adopters, combined with a major tobacco settlement agreement to the states in 1998, quitlines in the U.S. and Canada proliferated rapidly (Provan, Beagles and Leischow, 2011). …”

Renforcement des données probantes et des mesures relatives aux partenariats plurisectoriels en santé publique : un projet de recherche-action

“…Ce n'est que par un travail fondé sur la collaboration que l'on peut tirer le maximum des ressources, des compétences et des talents afin de réaliser des progrès durables dans les domaines de la prévention et du contrôle des maladies chroniques, en particulier les cancers, les cardiopathies et les maladies mentales [4][5][6][7][8] . C'est dans cette perspective que le Centre de prévention et de contrôle des maladies chroniques (CPCMC) de l'Agence de la santé publique du Canada (ASPC) a lancé, en 2013, l'initiative Partenariats plurisectoriels pour promouvoir les modes de vie sains et prévenir les maladies chroniques (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/fo-fc/mspphlpppmvs-fra.php).…”