Building and Sustaining Community Partnerships: An Organizational Network Analysis in a Low-resource Neighborhood.

Abstract

Building and Sustaining Community Partnerships: An Organizational Network Analysis in a Low-resource Neighborhood Kumbirai Madondo, PhD, Linda Weiss, PhD, Lindsey Realmuto, MPH, Patrick Masseo*, MA, MPA, Caitlin Burgdorf, PhD, Rashi Kumar, MUP, Susan Beane, MD, Harrison Schlossberg, and José A. Pagán, PhD What Is the Purpose of this Study? • To use social network analysis to evaluate a multisectoral partnership based in the Bronx, New York City. • Coalition aims to foster collaboration between residents and diverse institutions within the neighborhood to foster health equity. What Is the Problem? • The study is focused on Claremont, a section in the Morrissania neighborhood of the Bronx (the poorest neighborhood in New York City). • Poverty and unemployment rates in Claremont are the highest in New York City (NYC)—44% of the population lives in poverty and 20% are unemployed. • Thirty-eight percent of the adult population does not have a high school degree and the incarceration rate (371/100,000 adults) is also the highest in NYC. • Health indicators in Claremont are also among the poorest in NYC. Twenty-two percent of adults in Claremont have diabetes, 36% are obese, and the rate of adult hospitalizations for asthma is three times the citywide rate. • At 76.2 years, life expectancy is five years shorter than the NYC average. • Although there is a large body of literature on health disparities in low-income neighborhoods, few studies examine how multi-sectoral coalitions focused on systemic challenges function and collaborate to end health disparities. What Are the Findings? • The evaluation process was a collaborative process that included the coalition leadership and involved regular meetings to discuss progress, issues that may have arisen, and preliminary findings. This enhanced interpretation of evaluation findings. • The coalition has helped develop greater collaboration and trust among organizations working in the Claremont community, indicating positive outcomes of partnership synergy. • As multisectoral partners continue to work together and more organizations and community residents join the coalition, there is room to increase collaborations. [End Page e11] Who Should Care Most? • Community partners, evaluators and other researchers interested in understanding how residents and multi-sectoral institutions in low-income, low resource communities can effectively unite and create synergies that reduce blatant disparities and promote optimal health, improve quality of life, and foster collaboration across sectors to sustain positive changes. Recommendations for Action • When working with community partners, relationship building, developing trust, and flexibility are key for evaluation and for needed connections to local leadership, residents, and key community partners. • Evaluation of multicomponent, community-level interventions with multiple partners involved is difficult, but necessary to understand these partnerships. [End Page e12] Kumbirai Madondo The New York Academy of Medicine Department of Sociology, Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY) Linda Weiss The New York Academy of Medicine Lindsey Realmuto College of Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois Patrick Masseo BronxCare Caitlin Burgdorf The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Harrison Schlossberg Healthfirst José A. Pagán Department of Political Philosophy, Policy & Law, University of Virginia * Current affiliation: NYC Deputy Mayor’s Office for Health and Human Services. Copyright © 2022 Johns Hopkins University Press