Developing and maintaining state-wide adolescent pregnancy prevention coalitions: a preliminary investigation

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study of state-wide adolescent pregnancy prevention coalitions. Key informants in five states throughout the southern United States were given semi-structured interviews regarding the adolescent pregnancy prevention coalitions in their states. From these interviews and other documents, conclusions were drawn regarding the nature and importance of the environments within which these coalitions operate, the universe of activities in which coalitions engage, and the stages of development of these coalitions. Katz and Kahn's model of social organizations served as the basis for understanding coalitions in terms of these three considerations. Future research should consider the utility of organizational models that can explain more fully the organization--committee hybrid structure that tends to characterize these coalitions.

A Review of Collaborative Partnerships as a Strategy for Improving Community Health

“…Some researchers characterized environmental change across stages of partnership development (e.g. formation, implementation, and maintenance) (33,42,76,87,121). Another promising approach is to prospectively document environmental changes over time, using monthly or quarterly feedback on rates of community change to prompt adjustments (27, 50, 51, 88, 92, 92a).…”

“…For example, a study might use a case study design to document partnership activity and implementation, a cross-sectional survey to evaluate staff satisfaction or community-wide behaviors, and a prospective cohort design to assess trends in population-level health outcomes. All but eight studies (3,14,45,52,72,87,94,101) used a comparison group or condition to better understand the effects of partnerships. Two studies attempted to control for the effects of unknown confounding variables by randomly assigning community exposure to partnership intervention (17,124).…”

“…These and other difficulties may help explain why most studies evaluated more proximal outcomes, such as health behavior, using selected population samples. Some authors argue that evaluating the effects of a collaborative partnership on population-level outcomes may not be prudent, given the minimal understanding of the contexts and mechanisms by which they operate (87).…”

“…Although developing a clear vision and mission is widely regarded as an essential aspect of collaborative partnerships, some partnerships never develop one (87). A comparative case study with five coalitions found that collaborative partnerships with a targeted mission (e.g.…”

“…income disparities) (25). A clear vision and mission may help generate support and awareness for the partnership (55,61,87), reduce conflicting agendas and opposition (23, 52, 87), help identify allies (52,61), and minimize time costs and distractions from appropriate action (52,87).…”