"We've got to somehow get the energy in a community that's already exhausted:" Motivations to engage in community-academic partnerships from Flint community leaders’ perspectives

Abstract

Community engagement and partnerships are at the core of public health (Nguyen et al., 2021; Robillard et al., 2022). To address long-standing disparities among marginalized populations and communities of color, there is an urgent need to partner with community members and community-based organizations (CBOs) to co-create public health programs. The current paper focuses on community-academic partnerships (CAPs)—one strategy for engaging in community partnerships that can increase the capacity and implementation of public health practices. While impactful in practice, little is known about community partners’ perspectives on motivations for joining and continuing to participate with CAPs as compared to academic partners. The current study applies a case study approach using mixed methods to examine motivations to join and continue to participate in a CAP designed to advance health equity in Flint, Michigan. A sequential mixed-methods design was utilized to collect the breadth and depth of motivating factors, capturing a more comprehensive understanding of partner perspectives. Motivating factors were examined using survey data and qualitative interviews to identify key motivations to initiate at time-point 1 and to sustain engagement at time-point 2. Quantitative results highlighted motivating factors related to opportunities to collaborate with other agencies with shared philosophies, having shared values and mission in advancing health equity, and accessible opportunities to network across with such agencies. Qualitative findings expand on these responses, illustrating how community partners, in particular, recognized the need for collective action to overcome challenges in their community and the need for developing processes that could sustain long-term outcomes in Flint by accessing and leveraging resources (that would otherwise be unavailable) through academic partners. Findings from the study can be used to improve partnership dynamics in community practice.