Collaboration and partnership are key strategies that help form the foundation of MCH work. Title V often serves as the convener of partners, community organizations, and families. Understanding the elements of successful collaborative efforts and the impact of partnerships and community coalitions is critical to document effectiveness of collaborative efforts. Dena Herman, PhD, MPH, RD, Professor, California State University, Northridge Adjunct; Associate Professor/Director, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, presents a focused review of the types of collaboration measurements, from qualitative and quantitative to an analysis of frameworks and theories and social networks. This learning opportunity was originally presented for the Children's Healthy Weight State Capacity Building Program at their Learning and Networking Call (December 2023).
This segment starts with the basic questions of what and why. It reviews examples of collaborative partnerships before moving into the types of collaboration measurement and a quick overview of tools to use for each.
This segment presents a summary of evaluation methods, including Photovoice, surveys (e.g., The Partnership Assessment Tool for Health, Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory, Coalition Self-Assessment Survey, Coalition Effectiveness Inventory
This segment focuses on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), the Collective Impact Framework. It looks at when each approach is appropriate as a way to measure coalitions and how to implement a collective impact approach.
This segment discusses impact as measured through how partners interact. The four types of networks are reviewed, along with questions to ask during an assessment. Five markers for successful networking are explored and resources are presented for the entire presentation.
Frameworks
Quantitative Tools: Surveys
Social Network Analysis
Dena Herman, PhD, MPH, RD
Professor, California State University, Northridge
Adjunct Associate Professor/Director,
UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
Partners in Excellence for MCH Nutrition
Dr. Herman received an M.P.H. and Ph.D. in Community Health Sciences from the University of California, Los Angeles and an M.S. in Nutrition Sciences from the Friedrich-Wilhelms, Universitaet, Bonn, Germany. Her research interests focus on the prevention of childhood obesity and the relationship between the microbiome and diet. She has worked with ethnically diverse population groups across the age spectrum from infancy to elderly and in both domestic and international settings. She also works clinically as a registered dietitian with children and their families in the FIT for Healthy Weight program at UCLA’s Geffen School of Medicine and is an Adjunct Professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, American Society of Nutrition and the American Public Health Association.
Resources for Evaluating the Impact of Partnerships and Community Coalitions
December 2023