Coalition Of Leaders Research Articles

Homelessness: A Public Health Perspective on a Present Crisis

Addressing increasing rates of homelessness is a matter of great importance in North America due to adverse consequences on health, particularly in marginalized populations. Rates of homelessness as well as associated health issues in unhoused populations have continued to play a considerable role in countless communities. Therefore, to pursue solutions to the current crisis of homelessness from a public health perspective, this article seeks to place multiple proposals for solutions in conversation. This article contends that to effectively address homelessness from a public health perspective a multi-faceted approach must be implemented, led by a coalition of leaders from a variety of disciplines, comprehensively addressing homelessness, and supporting the unhoused.

Lessons Learned From the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States by Domestic Violence Coalition Leaders.

This U.S. study explores lessons learned about domestic violence service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic identified by state, territory, and tribal coalition leadership to advance preparedness and guide structural improvements for future disasters. Semi-structured interviews with 25 Coalition leaders identified public health control measures and victim-centered strategies used to mitigate the pandemic's impacts on services and advocacy. Three main themes emerged: workforce innovations, system empowerment, and the simultaneous pandemic of racial injustice. The COVID-19 pandemic inspired Coalitions to respond creatively and highlighted resources needed to support survivors and the domestic violence (DV) workforce going forward, including reassessing the current state of the DV movement.

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

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

Which aspects of coalition functioning are key at different stages of coalition development? A qualitative comparative analysis.

Coalitions are increasingly utilized to promote positive community health outcomes. Typically, coalitions produce more desirable outcomes when coalition functioning is strong and the coalition model is implemented with fidelity. Although theory indicates that coalitions proceed through predictable stages of development, minimal research explicitly examines functioning and fidelity at these different stages. Within a larger evaluation of Washington State Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative, this cross-sectional study employs qualitative comparative analysis to illuminate the coalition functioning conditions necessary and sufficient to produce high model fidelity at different stages of development in 43 substance misuse prevention coalitions in one state. In the formation stage, only the presence of high levels of coalition leadership was sufficient to produce high model fidelity. In the maintenance stage, three combinations of conditions were sufficient: (1) sustainability planning if, and only if, accompanied by the absence of coalition participation costs, (2) coordinator leadership, and (3) a combination of coalition leadership and team cohesion. In the institutionalization stage, two solutions were sufficient: (1) coalition leadership if, and only if, accompanied by the absence of sustainability planning, and (2) sustainability planning if, and only if, accompanied by the absence of coordinator leadership. This study illustrates several tangible steps technical assistance providers may take to increase the likelihood of achieving model fidelity. In the formation stage, skillful and inclusive coalition leadership is important. In the maintenance stage, technical assistance should focus on reducing participant-perceived costs; increasing sustainability planning; enhancing coordinator-specific leadership; and developing team cohesion and coalition leadership. For coalitions in the institutionalization stage, coalition leadership and sustainability planning may be prime targets for technical assistance.Plain Language Summary: Community coalition approaches to addressing social problems are common and have some evidence of producing positive community outcomes. Research shows that coalitions produce more desirable outcomes when coalition functioning is strong and the coalition model is implemented as it was designed. Although theory suggests that coalitions proceed through predictable stages of development, few studies look at which supports are most needed, at each stage, to improve coalition functioning and implementation. This study aims to help answer that question by determining which aspects of coalition functioning, in which combinations, are key to strong, well-functioning coalitions at different developmental stages in a sample of prevention coalitions in Washington State focused on youth substance misuse. The results suggest that having a strong coalition leadership team is key for all coalitions, regardless of development stage. For coalitions earlier in their formation, this was especially true. For coalitions further into their development, the combination of strong coordinator leadership and strong team cohesion was particularly important. Finally, for the most well-established coalitions, if sustainability planning was weak, strong coalition team leadership was key; but if coordinator leadership was weak, strong sustainability planning was critical to offset the lack of strong leadership. The results can be used to inform the types of technical assistance provided to support coalitions at different developmental stages.

Political Theory of Societal Association and Nation-Building: Case of the Failed State of Lebanon

Methodologically, the grounding of social science theory needs to use empirical evidence from histories of societies. This is the methodological connection of the disciplines of the social sciences to the discipline of history. In this fourth paper of a series on the failed state of Syria, we next focus on its neighbor of Lebanon, also a failed state. In this research, we further extend the theory of “political association” to include the concepts in “nation-building”—as “top-down or bottom-up structures” and as “national leadership” or “coalition leadership”.

Increasing access to primary health care through distributed leadership

ABSTRACT Background: Primary health care is a vital component of an effective health-care system. However, there are challenges in access to primary health care. The leadership approach adopted in primary health-care delivery has been called a key determinant of access to care. Objectives: In this study, the researcher examines the adoption of distributed leadership in primary health-care delivery and how it affects access to primary health care. The researcher seeks to establish the features of distributed leadership in primary health care, adoption of said leadership, and the impact of leadership approach on barriers to access. Methods: The study is based on a quantitative analysis of 12 studies from various countries globally that were retrieved from seven electronic databases. Results: It is noted that the main features of distributed leadership in primary health care include leadership coalitions among members of primary health care teams, a collective approach to decision-making, and shared accountability. The adoption of distributed leadership is seen to significantly reduce communication barriers (P = 0.01) and knowledge barriers (P = 0.028) while enhancing continuity of care in primary health-care delivery (P = 0.03). The researcher also reports a statistically significant difference in health-care access, depending on the different features of distributed leadership (χ 2(2) = 6.003, P = 0.014). Conclusions: The evidence presented could equip primary health-care leaders and policy makers with insights and knowledge regarding the enhancement of primary health-care access through the adoption of a distributed leadership approach.

A New Approach to Partnerships for SDG Transformations

Recent scientific reports highlight the urgent need for transformations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and long-term sustainability. This paper presents a new approach to partnerships that focuses on their role in transformations, the types of partnerships that may be needed and their enabling environment. It introduces transformation effectiveness as a criterion to evaluate a portfolio of partnerships and pathways as a tool to frame discussion of required partnerships. Guided by energy decarbonization and using a simple model of partnership formation, I highlight a (potential) mismatch between the types of partnerships required for transformation and the partnership types arising under the currently dominant voluntary approach. The model suggests the bottom-up approach can deliver some, but not all, of the partnerships needed. Five specific problems are identified—compensation for losers, partnering capacity, short-time horizons, inadequate coordination mechanisms and misaligned incentives. The paper then outlines some policy tools—transfers, regulation, public investment—governments could use to strengthen the bottom-up framework and orchestrate missing partnerships. The conclusion addresses two problems specific to the transformation approach: how to identify more systematically the partnerships needed (identification problem) and how to implement them (implementation problem); and outlines some ways to deal with these—science, deliberation, international leadership coalitions and frameworks/monitoring systems for transition partnerships.

Kids, Cops, and Community: A Qualitative Assessment of Police, Youth, and Parent Perceptions of Each Other.

Police and communities alike have experienced many traumatic incidents over the last 4 years, prompting police departments across the country to rethink their approach to community programs. Aurora's Gang Reduction Impact Program (A-GRIP) launched "Kids, Cops, and Community" (KC&C) in Aurora, Colorado, as a community-based quality improvement project designed to improve community relations by better understanding Aurora police and community members' perceptions of each other and current A-GRIP and Aurora for Youth programs by assessing police, youth, and parents' perceptions of each other. After a review of current scientific literature on police-community relations, a KC&C advisory group oversaw the creation of key informant interview and focus group guides. A-GRIP recruited participants for 37 interviews (20 police, 8 youth, and 9 parents) and 3 youth focus groups. The community advisory group assisted in the development of salient themes and practical recommendations. The final report outlined 5 major themes (pros/cons of types of police interactions, respectful communication, false uniqueness effect, parenting and police as parents, and youth-police programming awareness) and 2 specific recommendations (sustain/increase opportunities for police-youth interactions and increase community awareness of youth programming). A-GRIP members had a rich discussion of the implications of these findings in which there was broad support for identifying a strategy to use these results to improve police-community relations. The coalition was challenged by identifying clear next steps because of turnover in administration and coalition leadership, but they have made progress in increasing information and resource sharing. This project provides the first model we are aware of that incorporates a systematic assessment of police, youth, and parent perspectives from the same community. Other communities may find value in adapting the KC&C process to identify promising approaches and refine programming elements of police-community engagement activities.

Influencing the Penal Agenda? The Justice Select Committee and ‘Transforming Justice’, 2010–15

AbstractThis article assesses the policy influence of the House of Commons Justice Select Committee, established to oversee the work of the Ministry of Justice following its creation a decade ago. The committee has, from the outset, overseen many contentious policy and legislative developments in the penal field, although none so extensive as those introduced following the formation of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010. Despite the newsworthy nature of its business, the committee has, to some extent, operated in the shadows of its high‐profile sister, the Home Affairs Select Committee, and has received surprisingly limited attention from criminologists and political scientists alike. Forming part of a wider investigation into the work of the committee, this article examines the extent to which it was able to influence penal developments during the coalition years. This period is of particular interest given that it heralded the end of the New Labour administration and welcomed the ‘fresh thinking’ of a coalition leadership keen to emphasise its progressive attitude towards law and order. While the committee was able to influence the direction of penal policy on several occasions, this mostly occurred as a result of its proactive or niche inquiries. The committee had less impact when conducting inquiries that assessed the government's flagship policy agenda, however. Such findings brought into question the ability of the committee to influence the most significant justice transformations in this era of new penal governance.

Transforming Coalition Leadership: An Evaluation of a Collaborative Leadership Training Program

Transforming Coalition Leadership: An Evaluation of a Collaborative Leadership Training Program

Structural and Community Change Outcomes of the Connect-to-Protect Coalitions: Trials and Triumphs Securing Adolescent Access to HIV Prevention, Testing, and Medical Care.

Connect to Protect (C2P), a 10-year community mobilization effort, pursued the dual aims of creating communities competent to address youth's HIV-related risks and removing structural barriers to youth health. We used Community Coalition Action Theory (CCAT) to examine the perceived contributions and accomplishments of 14 C2P coalitions. We interviewed 318 key informants, including youth and community leaders, to identify the features of coalitions' context and operation that facilitated and undermined their ability to achieve structural change and build communities' capability to manage their local adolescent HIV epidemic effectively. We coded the interviews using an a priori coding scheme informed by CCAT and scholarship on AIDS-competent communities. We found community mobilization efforts like C2P can contribute to addressing the structural factors that promote HIV-risk among youth and to community development. We describe how coalition leadership, collaborative synergy, capacity building, and local community context influence coalitions' ability to successfully implement HIV-related structural change, demonstrating empirical support for many of CCAT's propositions. We discuss implications for how community mobilization efforts might succeed in laying the foundation for an AIDS-competent community.

Advocacy coalitions involved in California's menu labeling policy debate: Exploring coalition structure, policy beliefs, resources, and strategies

Advocacy coalitions often play an important role in the state health policymaking process, yet little is known about their structure, composition, and behavior. In 2008, California became the first state to enact a menu labeling law. Using the advocacy coalition framework, we examine different facets of the coalitions involved in California's menu labeling policy debate. We use a qualitative research approach to identify coalition members and explore their expressed beliefs and policy arguments, resources, and strategies by analyzing legislative documents (n = 87) and newspaper articles (n = 78) produced between 1999 and 2009. Between 2003 and 2008, six menu labeling bills were introduced in the state's legislature. We found the issue received increasing media attention during this period. We identified two advocacy coalitions involved in the debate—a public health (PH) coalition and an industry coalition. State organizations acted as coalition leaders and participated for a longer duration than elected officials. The structure and composition of each coalition varied. PH coalition leadership and membership notably increased compared to the industry coalition. The PH coalition, led by nonprofit PH and health organizations, promoted a clear and consistent message around informed decision making. The industry coalition, led by a state restaurant association, responded with cost and implementation arguments. Each coalition used various resources and strategies to advance desired outcomes. PH coalition leaders were particularly effective at using resources and employing advocacy strategies, which included engaging state legislators as coalition members, using public opinion polls and information, and leveraging media resources to garner support. Policy precedence and a local policy push emerged as important policymaking strategies. Areas for future research on the state health policymaking process are discussed.

The role of a food policy coalition in influencing a local food environment: an Australian case study.

To explore how an Australian rural food policy coalition acts to influence a local food environment, focusing specifically on its composition, functions and processes as well as its food-related strategies and policy outputs. A qualitative case study approach was undertaken. Three sources were used to triangulate data: eleven semi-structured in-depth interviews with coalition members, analysis of thirty-seven documents relating to the coalition and observation at one coalition meeting. Data were analysed using a thematic and constant comparison approach. Community Coalition Action Theory provided a theoretical framework from which to interpret findings. Two rural local government areas on the south-eastern coast of Victoria, Australia. Eleven members of the food policy coalition. Five themes emerged from the data analysis. The themes described the coalition's leadership processes, membership structure, function to pool resources for food system advocacy, focus on collaborative cross-jurisdictional strategies and ability to influence policy change. This Australian case study demonstrates that with strong leadership, a small-sized core membership and focus on collaborative strategies, food policy coalitions may be a mechanism to positively influence local food environments.

Advocacy Coalition Resources and Strategies in Colorado Hydraulic Fracturing Politics

ABSTRACTThis article examines how members of competing coalitions seek to influence public policy. Past research examined coalitions and policy change, but offered limited understanding about the relationships between coalitions’ resources, strategies, and policy change. The case study focuses on the establishment of various regulations related to hydraulic fracturing in Colorado. Data were collected using interviews (n = 14) and a survey (n = 137) of policy actors asking about their beliefs, resources, and strategies in April 2013. This study found that members of the coalition proposing stricter regulations were successful. This winning coalition more frequently engaged in a wider range of strategies and had greater public support compared to their opponents. The study also found that among the winning coalition members, leadership and information technology resources were associated with the majority of their strategies, but financial resources did not have a significant relationship with any strategy.

A Coalition Perspective on Nonprofit Governance Quality: Analyzing Dimensions of Influence in an Exploratory Comparative Case Analysis

We answer the call that governance research should focus more on processes outside the boundaries of boards, especially for nonprofit organizations. In particular, we suggest and elaborate concrete steps with respect to the advantages of a leadership coalition perspective to focus more on the behavioral and informal aspects of governance. Through a comparative case analysis of five nonprofit organizations, we explore contingencies between characteristics of nonprofit leadership coalitions and governance quality. We identify two dimensions to classify leadership coalitions: centralized versus diffused influence and specific versus holistic influence. These dimensions are subsequently related with observed governance quality. We frame our finding in the existing literature on group faultlines, which are socially constructed dividing lines within groups, and we discuss the importance of establishing a balanced coalition between a weak or nonexisting and a strong dominant coalition to ensure high governance quality. We also present propositions on how governance quality and its various sub-dimensions can be studied as a complex, nonlinear intermediate concept between coalitional aspects of leadership groups and nonprofit organizational performance. Finally, we discuss concrete avenues for further testing and verification of our theoretical interpretation.

A Tailored Approach to Launch Community Coalitions Focused on Achieving Structural Changes: Lessons Learned From a HIV Prevention Mobilization Study.

Public health HIV prevention efforts have begun to focus on addressing social and structural factors contributing to HIV risk, such as unstable housing, unemployment, and access to health care. With a limited body of evidence-based structural interventions for HIV, communities tasked with developing structural changes need a defined process to clarify their purpose and goals. This article describes the adaptations made to a coalition development model with the purpose of improving the start-up phase for a second group of coalitions. Modifications focused on preparing coalitions to more efficiently apply structural change concepts to their strategic planning activities, create more objectives that met study goals, and enhance coalition procedures such as building distributed coalition leadership to better support the mobilization process. We report on primary modifications to the process, findings for the coalitions, and recommendations for public health practitioners who are seeking to start a similar coalition.

Exploring leadership roles, goals, and barriers among Kansas registered nurses: A descriptive cross-sectional study

ObjectivesThe Institute of Medicine's Future of Nursing report advocates for full nurse leader representation across multiple settings to address current challenges in our health care system. The purpose of this study was to examine nursing leadership development needs among Kansas registered nurses (RNs). MethodsData were collected through an online survey and analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. ResultsNearly 1,000 Kansas RNs participated. Most reported holding one or more leadership positions. Prevalent leadership goals were health care organization volunteer administrative roles. The most frequently identified barrier to developing leadership roles was time constraints. Many wanted to develop skills to serve on a board, 20% were interested in personal leadership development, and 19% in policy development. ConclusionsBased on the findings, the Kansas Action Coalition leadership team is developing programs to address the leadership needs of Kansas RNs. By building capacity in advanced leadership roles, RNs will be better prepared serve as full partners and lead efforts to promote the health of Kansans.

‘Putting the GREAT Back into Britain’: National Identity, Public-Private Collaboration & Transfers of Brand Equity in 2012's Global Promotional Campaign

Research Highlights and Abstract This article provides A ‘zeitgeist’ analysis of how the Coalition leadership tried to make the most of Britain's ‘big year’ of 2012, particularly in terms of the government's ‘prosperity agenda’; Rich empirical data about high profile, government-wide trends in British promotional strategies and practices in the context of austerity; Analysis of the consequences of these promotional activities from a number of perspectives, including: GREAT as an alternative to existing promotional structures; strategies for drawing upon national identity in support of economic growth; disciplining techniques for enforcing brand identity; approaches to co-branding corporate and governmental Britain; the metrics used to demonstrate impact. The GREAT campaign is one of the most ambitious national promotion efforts ever undertaken. Timed to make the most of Britain's raised profile during Olympic year, the aim was to promote trade, investment and tourism under a unified identity emphasising British achievements. However, the campaign raises a number of issues. The first is how and why GREAT emerged as an alternative to established structures for soft power, public diplomacy and marketing in the UK. The second is the ways GREAT engages with collective identity through the nationalisation and commodification of symbolic resources. Third is the practices used to include and exclude specific target groups and stakeholders. Fourth is the interaction between economic and symbolic resources, including public-private collaboration and the evidence used to determine impact and value. These themes contribute to an analysis of GREAT that will be of interest to scholars of politics and IR in the UK and internationally.

‘New’ and distributed leadership in quality and safety in health care, or ‘old’ and hierarchical? An interview study with strategic stakeholders

We aimed to explore the views of strategic level stakeholders on leadership for quality and safety in the UK National Health Service. We interviewed 107 stakeholders with close involvement in quality and safety as professionals, managers, policy makers or commentators. Analysis was based on the constant comparative method. Participants identified the crucial role of leadership in ensuring safe, high quality care. Consistent with the academic literature, participants distinguished between traditional hierarchical 'concentrated' leadership associated with particular positions, and distributed leadership involving those with particular skills and abilities across multiple institutional levels. They clearly and explicitly saw a role for distributed leadership, emphasizing that all staff had responsibility for leading on patient safety and quality. They described the particular value of leadership coalitions between managers and clinicians. However, concern was expressed that distributed leadership could mean confusion about who was in charge, and that at national level it risked creating a vacuum of authority, mixed messages, and conflicting expectations and demands. Participants also argued that hierarchically based leadership was needed to complement distributed leadership, not least to provide focus, practical support and expertise, and managerial clout. Strategic level stakeholders see the most effective form of leadership for quality and safety as one that blends distributed and concentrated leadership. Policy and academic prescriptions about leadership may benefit from the sophisticated and pragmatic know-how of insiders who work in organizations that remain permeated by traditional structures, cleavages and power relationships.

Taking Evidence-Based Plastic Surgery to the Next Level

Applying the principles of evidence-based medicine has the potential to drastically improve quality of care and patient outcomes. For this reason, evidence-based medicine has been held as one of the 15 most important developments in medicine within the past 100 years. In August of 2010, a broad coalition of leaders from numerous organizations representing societies, boards, journals, foundations, and academic institutions met in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for the first Evidence-Based Plastic Surgery Summit. The summit signaled a sea change in the approach of organized plastic surgery to the promotion of evidence-based medicine within the specialty. It was determined that a strategic, coordinated, and sustained effort to drive an evidence-based medicine culture would accelerate adoption and advance quality of care and patient safety. Over the past 2 years, many of the goals of the initial summit have been met. In order to take our evidence-based medicine efforts to the next level, a second summit was recently held to redefine goals, focus efforts, address barriers, and launch new initiatives with broad consensus. This article documents the outcomes of the second Evidence-Based Plastic Surgery Summit.