Multisector Partnerships in Population Health Improvement - Preventing Chronic Disease: November 2010: 10_0104

http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/nov/images/cover_nov10.jpg
November 2010
Volume 7: Issue 6
ISSN: 1545-1151

SPECIAL TOPIC
Multisector Partnerships in Population Health Improvement
Julie Woulfe; Thomas R. Oliver, PhD, MHA; Susan J. Zahner, DrPH, RN; Kirstin Q. Siemering, DrPH

Suggested citation for this article: Woulfe J, Oliver TR, Zahner SJ, Siemering KQ. Multisector partnerships in population health improvement. Prev Chronic Dis 2010;7(6). http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2010/nov/10_0104.htm. Accessed [date].

PEER REVIEWED
Abstract

Many new initiatives for population health improvement feature partnerships of leaders and organizations across multiple sectors of society. The purpose of this article is to review 1) the rationale for such partnerships as an important, if not essential, tool for population health improvement; 2) key organizational and contextual factors that appear to be associated with effective multisector partnerships; and 3) the limited evidence regarding the effect of such partnerships on population health outcomes. We conclude that systems thinking — accounting for the collective effect of many actors and actions — is essential to organizing and sustaining efforts to improve population health, and to evaluating them. More research is needed to understand how and why multisector partnerships are formed and sustained and the conditions under which multisector partnerships are necessary or more effective than other strategies for population health improvement. Research on and evaluation of multisector partnerships also need to incorporate more standard measures of partnership contexts, characteristics, and strategies and adopt longitudinal and prospective designs to accelerate social learning in this area. Finally, studies of multisector partnerships must be alert to the value of such initiatives to individuals and communities apart from any direct and measurable impact on population health.


Introduction

In response to the call of the Institute of Medicine for multisector partnerships (1), many new initiatives for population health improvement feature partnerships of leaders and organizations across multiple sectors of society. These partnerships typically include representatives and resources from various substantive issue areas — for example, education, economic development, transportation, agriculture, and health — and span the business, nonprofit, and governmental sectors. The purpose of this article is to review 1) the rationale for such partnerships as a tool for population health improvement, 2) key organizational and contextual factors that appear to be associated with effective multisector partnerships, and 3) the limited evidence regarding the effect of such partnerships on population health outcomes.

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Preventing Chronic Disease: November 2010: 10_0104