Abstract
Background Collective impact theory suggests coalitions can encourage community-level policy and systems changes supported by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed). A recent Cochrane review found coalition efforts improved health disparities, but insufficient knowledge of coalition characteristics limited understanding of underlying mechanisms. Objective Measure community coalition characteristics across time to identify potential areas for improvement. Study Design, Setting, Participants Trained SNAP-Ed staff administered the research-tested Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory (Wilder) as a pretest and 2 years later as a posttest, at the level of the coalition. Community coalitions were established for at least 6 months, worked in the food systems (FS) or active living (AL) SNAP-Ed focus areas, and included at least 5 organizations and a SNAP-Ed representative. Seven coalitions (n = 73 members) completed the Wilder in both years, including 3 FS (n = 36) and 4 AL (n = 37) coalitions. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Within-group (by focus area) analyses across time: Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to compare scores for the 20 Wilder factors. Descriptive statistics for percentage of respondents whose scores for individual factors decreased. Results Across 2 years, coalition members reported improvements related to coalition purpose, collaborative environment, and perception of resources. Coalition processes and membership characteristics showed decreases. For FS coalitions: Unique Purpose improved significantly (P Conclusion Coalitions that persist over time may increase their level of collaboration, collective purpose, and resource security. They may need ongoing support to maintain internal processes and address membership characteristics. Implications of this work include successful measurement of short-term changes in coalition capacity outcomes; this highlighting of strengths and weaknesses may improve coalition efforts to address longer-term community-level objectives. Funding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education.
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