Development and Feasibility Testing of the Clinical-Community Linkage Self-Assessment Survey for Community Organizations

Abstract

IntroductionClinical-community linkages (CCLs) can improve health, but few instruments exist to evaluate these partnerships. To address this gap, we develop and test the Clinical-Community Linkage Self-Assessment Survey (CCL Self-Assessment).Materials and MethodsWe built on an existing framework and conducted a literature review to guide the design of our survey, and obtained feedback from academic, clinical, and community-based experts. To pretest the instrument, we conducted 10 think-aloud interviews with community-based health-promotion organizations. We performed feasibility testing with 38 staff from 20 community organizations, followed by criterion-validity testing.ResultsThe 15-item final instrument includes five domains: Nature of the Relationship, Communication, Referral Process, Feedback Loop, and Timeliness. Expert feedback included keeping the CCL Self-Assessment brief and actionable. Think-aloud interviews produced a range of revisions related to item wording, instructions, brevity, and formatting. Feasibility testing showed high response rate and ease of administration. Sites scoring high on the CCL Self-Assessment also scored high on the criterion measure.DiscussionWe demonstrate feasibility, as well as face, content, construct, and criterion validity. Initial results suggest the CCL Self-Assessment survey may be used by community organizations to identify strengths and weaknesses of their linkages. Next steps include additional statistical validation and testing to determine how the CCL Self-Assessment survey works in the field as well as providing specific tools to improve linkages.

Dementia care and prevention in community settings: a built environment framework for cognitive health promotion

“…Age and dementia-friendly processes were a common focus, including clinical partnerships [57 ▪▪ ,58 ▪▪ ,59,60 ▪ ], caregiving support and patient navigation [61 ▪ ,62 ▪ ]. They included ethical, financial, and infrastructural aspects of care [63 ▪▪ ,64 ▪ ,65 ▪▪ ,66 ▪▪ ,67,68].…”

“…They included ethical, financial, and infrastructural aspects of care [63 ▪▪ ,64 ▪ ,65 ▪▪ ,66 ▪▪ ,67,68]. To illustrate, Fishleder et al [57 ▪▪ ] developed a measure of clinical-community linkages with input from 38 community staff. Their framework highlighted the importance of relationships, communication, referral feedback loop, and timeliness to sustain cross-sector partnerships.…”

Characteristics of programmes designed to link community-dwelling older adults in high-income countries from community to clinical sectors: a scoping review protocol

“…There is no standard nomenclature or definition of programmes that ‘link’, ‘navigate’ or ‘liaise’ community members, healthcare systems and community organisations 20 22 48 49. For example, similar programmes are referred to as community–clinic linkage models,13 50–52 patient navigation models,20–22 liaison models,27 53 linking schemes54 or ‘system navigation programmes’ that ‘link’ 26. This protocol uses the general term ‘programme’ to collectively refer to interventions of this kind.…”