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.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.