Stakeholder Partnerships Research Articles

A Sustainable Model for Preventive Services in Rural Counties: The Healthier Together Study.

The Healthier Together study aimed to implement and evaluate a sustainable, rural community-based patient outreach model for preventive care provided through primary care practices located in 3 rural counties in Oklahoma. Community-based wellness coordinators (WCs) working with primary care practitioners, county health departments, local hospitals, and health information exchange (HIE) networks helped residents receive high-priority evidence-based preventive services. The WCs used a wellness registry connected to electronic medical records and HIEs and called patients at the county level, based on primary care practitioner-preferred protocols. The registry flagged patient-level preventive care gaps, tracked outreach efforts, and documented the delivery of services throughout the community. Return on investment (ROI) in participating organizations was estimated by the study team. Forty-four of the 59 eligible clinician practices participated in the study. Two regional HIEs supplied periodic health data updates for 71,989 patients seen in the 3 implementation counties. A total of 45,862 outreach calls were made by 6 WCs, 100,896 high-priority recommendations were offered to patients based on care gaps and 14,043 additional services were delivered. Of all the patients reached, only 1917 (4.2%) were up to date on all prioritized services. Participating primary care practices significantly improved the delivery of preventive services (mean increase: 20.2% across 12 services; P < .001; range: 7% to 43%) and realized a mean ROI of 68%. Health systems that employed the WCs earned a mean revenue of $175,000, realizing a 75% ROI for the outreach program. Although health care is under-resourced and segmented in many rural counties, when stakeholder partnerships are established, they may be able to achieve and economically sustain community-wide health improvement by creating a win-win situation for all partners.

Past, Current, and Future Cancer Clinical Research Collaborations: The Case of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer.

Although collaborations between academic institutions and industry have led to important scientific breakthroughs in the discovery stage of the pharmaceutical research and development process, the role of multistakeholder partnerships in the clinical development of anticancer medicines necessitates further clarification. The benefits associated with such cooperation could be undercut by the conflicting goals and motivations of the actors included. The aim of this review was to identify and characterize past, present, and future stakeholder partnership models in cancer clinical research through the lens of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). Based on the analysis of several landmark EORTC trials performed across the span of three decades, four existing models of stakeholder cooperation were delineated and characterized. Additionally, a hypothetical fifth model representing a potential future collaborative framework for cancer clinical research was formulated. These models mainly differ in terms of the nature and responsibilities of the partners included and show that clinical research partnerships in oncology have evolved over time from small‐scale academia‐industry collaborations to complex interdisciplinary cooperation involving many different stakeholders.

Empowerment Program Design in Edutourism Management Post Pandemic Covid 19

The agrotourism area not only provides attractions of natural beauty and agricultural products, but also local wisdom that can be used as an educational commodity or educational tourism, so that tourists get knowledge, experience and agricultural cultivation skills from the community or entrepreneurial groups. The Corona Virus 2019 (Covid 19) pandemic in Indonesia resulted in decreasing of tourist visit and income for entrepreneurial groups, so it was important to design an empowerment program in the management of covid 19 post-pandemic tourism development. The research process was carried out before the Covid 19 pandemic: January to mid-March 2020 therefore the researcher could use the Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) method. While data collection was taken by observation, documentation, interviews and discussions with research informants from the village government, tour operators, farmer groups, entrepreneurship groups based on horticultural products, practitioners and experts. And then through a questionnaire from business groups of 60 respondents in tourist locations, it used a survey method and the results are descriptive quantitative data. The research location was in the agro-tourism area of Serang Village, Karangreja District, Purbalingga Regency, Central Java Province. This research used community development analysis, then conducting clarification and data verification using online media due to Covid 19 pandemic. The result of the study was the design of gradual empowerment programs targeting the younger generation such as: (1) the stage of forming and enhancing the mindset, mental attitude and motivation for successful entrepreneurship, teamwork and edu-tourism management; (2) stage of increasing knowledge, awareness and skills, especially innovation in processing horticulture products, packaging, product brand labels and licensing and product standardization; (3) the stages of forming an educational tourism (edutourism) team with the support of stakeholder partnerships to provide edu-tourism management training courses, in terms of administration and financial, information and service teams, creative and entertainment teams, digital media teams, digital marketing and promotion teams.

The AutGO Initiative: A Conceptual Framework for Developing Genetics-Outcomes Research Hypotheses.

The increasing emphasis on translational approaches to complex neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions research requires scientists from a broad range of disciplines to build dynamic collaborations when formulating hypotheses and framing study designs. The need to integrate the knowledge and perspectives not only from multiple scientific silos but also from the populations impacted by these conditions presents a significant challenge to researchers, particularly for a heterogeneous condition like autism. As one path toward addressing these challenges, we have previously introduced Autism Genetics Outcomes (AutGO), an initiative to support broad stakeholder partnerships and promote a new integrated concept called GO (i.e., research approaches that draw on both genetics and clinical outcomes perspectives). Herein, we developed a workflow for collecting stakeholders' feedback toward the development of a GO hypothesis. AutGO is an evolving initiative, and here we describe how its three essential components (conceptual framework, applicability, and implementation) have been developed. As a proof‐of‐concept, the AutGO team sought to demonstrate how a GO hypothesis could be developed using a semi‐structured literature review workflow. We also developed a prototype from published reports and formulated a GO hypothesis for autism. Rather than seeking community stakeholder input after a research project is conceptualized and designed, the developed conceptual framework demonstrates the feasibility of formulating scientific hypotheses by engaging stakeholders in retrospective semi‐structured literature reviews. The presented workflow, prototype, and discussed recommendations will bring awareness in the autism research community about the benefits of applying the GO approach in order to promote translational aspects in genetics research.Lay SummaryWe used a community‐based engagement approach to develop AutGO (Autism Genetics Outcomes), an initiative to establish stakeholder partnerships and to promote research approaches (we refer to as GO) that draw on both genetics and clinical outcomes perspectives. Specifically, we developed a conceptual framework that includes a literature review process for developing GO hypotheses and stakeholder feedback collection protocol. Our work will bring awareness in the autism research community about the benefits of integrating patient perspectives in genetics research. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1286–1299. © 2020 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Engaging patients and stakeholders in preresearch: findings from the Pipeline to Proposal Awards Initiative.

Aim: The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Pipeline to Proposal (P2P) Awards Initiative funded 177 awardees to engage patients and stakeholder partners in preresearch. Based on P2P, we described engagement strategies; outcomes; facilitators; and challenges to inform research funders and stakeholders participating in preresearch. Materials & methods: We used a qualitative approach based on content analysis of program data and interviews with P2P awardees and partners. Results: Awardees developed partnership infrastructure by recruiting patients and stakeholders, establishing clear roles, and providing training. Building trust was key to engaging patients and stakeholders in preresearch. Awardees reported partners were more likely to engage in PCOR in the future. Conclusion: P2P awardees increased capacity of patient and stakeholder partnerships to conduct PCOR.

A ‘demand-supply-regulation-institution’ stakeholder partnership model of delivering zero carbon buildings

In addressing anthropogenic climate change, many countries have tightened up their building energy regulations and even formulated zero carbon building (ZCB) policies. However, there still lacks real-world uptake of the ZCB approach. The importance of stakeholder engagement and partnership to effectively promote and deliver ZCBs has been emphasized but insufficiently understood. This paper aims to develop a stakeholder partnership model of delivering ZCBs in a systematic manner. Theoretically, the model is based on a socio-technical systems framework that covers four socio-technical system components of delivering ZCBs and a stakeholder framework that categorizes the many stakeholders of buildings and the process of building. Empirically, the model draws on the review and examination of seven major stakeholder partnerships worldwide for promoting ZCB. Integrating all findings, a demand-supply-regulation-institution (DSRI) stakeholder partnership model is developed for successfully achieving the zero carbon target for future buildings. This developed model links different stakeholder groups to address the socio-technical systems of delivering ZCBs in the geographical, socio-economic, and political and regulatory contexts. The model was contextualized and validated using an in-depth case study with the Hong Kong Zero Carbon Partnership. Fourteen strategies were yielded for supporting the application of the model and informing future ZCB practices.

Musculoskeletal pain stakeholder engagement and partnership development: determining patient-centered research priorities

BackgroundMusculoskeletal (MSK) pain is a global public health problem with increased societal burden. Increased attention has focused toward patient and other stakeholder perspectives when determining future MSK pain research priorities, however infrastructure and capacity building within the community are needed for individuals and organizations to participate in patient-centered outcomes research. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe our collaborative experiences with several MSK pain stakeholders and processes to identify a top priority research topic.MethodsLunch meetings and formalized workshops were used to develop infrastructure for engaging patients and other stakeholders with early capacity building for partners to identify MSK pain research ideas based on their personal experiences. Additional capacity building and engagement through literature searching further prepared partners to contribute informed decisions about MSK pain research topics and subsequent selection of an important research question.ResultsSeveral key deliverables (e.g., Governance Document, Communication Plan) were developed and completed over the course of this project to provide partnership structure. Other key deliverables included a list of preliminary comparative effectiveness research ideas (n = 8) and selection of shared decision making for MSK pain as the top priority research topic with patient partners identifying pain self-efficacy as an important outcome domain.ConclusionsOur patient partners provided the catalyst for identifying shared decision making as a high priority research topic based on a wide spectrum of stakeholder perspectives and unique experiences. Patient partners were primarily identified using a single rehabilitation health system and clinician partners were heavily weighted by physical therapists which may have introduced selection bias.

Sustainability reporting assessment for quality and compliance: the case of Ukrainian banks’ management reports

Management report is a new form of sustainability reporting (SR) in Ukraine, and its assessment for quality of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria disclosure and compliance among banks plays a crucial role for auditors in the verification process. The Quality and Compliance Bank Management Reports (Q&amp;amp;amp;C BMR) Index methodology was developed for this purpose. The methodology includes a range of formal, content, assurance and disclosure scorings. According to the results of a continuous assessment of these management reports of 75 state, private and foreign-owned banks in Ukraine for the 2018 fiscal year, the average Q&amp;amp;amp;C BMR Index is 61.2%. This indicates a fairly high level of quality and compliance with regulatory requirements for disclosure by banks of Ukraine in their SR. Differentiation of the studied population of banks in terms of Q&amp;amp;amp;C BMR Index allowed distinguishing the following rating groups: А – leaders, B – pursuers, C – starters, and D – outsiders. There is a clear trend in the relationship between the ownership of a bank and its Q&amp;amp;amp;C BMR index. Despite the rather high average value of the index, there is an opportunity to improve Ukrainian banks’ SR in the context of its further standardization and disclosure of the full set of ESGs – a criterion for all rating groups (especially C and D). Q&amp;amp;amp;C BMR Index can be used as a benchmark by banks, regulators and auditors when comparing the level of disclosure by banks and their transparency. AcknowledgmentThe comments of an editor and anonymous referees have been gratefully acknowledged. Inna Makarenko gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine – Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility for Sustainable Development: Partnership of Stakeholders in the Real, Financial and Public Sectors of the Economy (0117U003933).

Corporate social sustainability in supply chain management: a literature review

PurposeRecently, sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has generated significant interest and gained attention of practitioners and academics. The purpose of this paper is to explore different themes in the existing literature, which pertains to social sustainability (SS) in supply chains, to argue for the use of SS model and suggest further research directions.Design/methodology/approachIn the study, the authors have undertaken extensive literature review (n = 171) and used thematic analysis to propose a model.FindingsThrough the extensive review and thematic analysis, the paper identifies eight themes, which include stakeholder pressure, sustainability culture, contingencies, sustainability practices, partnerships, drivers and barriers, sustainability performance and optimization, and develops a SS model called “five-factor sustainability model.” Furthermore, a list of potential research directions for five-factor sustainability model is discussed.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is an attempt to explore different themes related to SS in supply chain and develop a model that is also applicable to economic and environmental sustainability.Originality/valueThe paper offers a new approach to SSCM literature, arguing for five-factor sustainability model and providing further research directions. Moreover, this model will help sustainability scholars to position and integrate their research within social, economic and environmental sustainability literature.

Urban foraging: Land management policy, perspectives, and potential.

Gathering of uncultivated food from green spaces, also known as foraging, is observed in urban areas across the world, but the literature focuses predominantly on the global north. Our study examines the existing urban land management structure and its approach to urban foraging in the eastern coastal region of South Africa. Through interviews with municipal officials in nine cities, we identified different stakeholders and their roles in urban green space management. We then used network analysis to represent interactions and influence of these stakeholders, and environmental worldviews to determine organisational and perceptual barriers to and enablers of foraging in urban green spaces. The policy on urban green space management, as well as land managers themselves are amenable to the concept of foraging in public spaces. Lack of knowledge on wild indigenous species and sustainable offtake, ambiguous, coarse, or lacking policy, and normative views of pristine nature may hinder foraging. We recommend pathways for policy and stakeholder partnerships to incorporate sustainable foraging in their biodiversity conservation and land stewardship strategies.

Implementing a Learning Collaborative Framework for States Working to Improve Outcomes for Vulnerable Populations: The Opioid Use Disorder, Maternal Outcomes, and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Initiative Learning Community.

The opioid crisis has impacted vulnerable populations, specifically pregnant and postpartum women, and infants prenatally exposed to substances, including infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. Lack of access to clinical and social services; potential stigma or discrimination; and lack of resources for provision of services, including screening and treatment, have impacted the health of these populations. In 2018, using a systems change approach, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) convened an Opioid use disorder, Maternal outcomes, Neonatal abstinence syndrome Initiative Learning Community (OMNI LC) that included other federal agencies, national clinical and nonclinical organizations, and 12 state leadership groups. The purpose of the OMNI LC was to determine areas of focus and identify strategies and best practices for implementing systems change to improve maternal and infant outcomes associated with opioid use disorder (OUD) during the perinatal period. Activities included in-person convenings with policy goal action plan development, virtual learning sessions, intensive technical assistance (TA), and temporary field placements. The OMNI LC partnering agencies and state teams met bimonthly for the first year of the initiative. At the in-person convening, state teams identified barriers to developing and implementing systems change in activity-specific action plans within five areas of focus: financing and coverage; access to and coordination of quality services; provider training and awareness; ethical, legal, and social considerations; and data, monitoring, and evaluation. State teams also identified stakeholder partnerships as a necessary component of strategy development in all areas of focus. Four virtual learning sessions were conducted on the areas of focus identified by state teams, and ASTHO conducted three intensive TA opportunities, and five states were identified for temporary field placement. To successfully address the impact of the opioid crisis on pregnant and postpartum women and infants, states developed innovative strategies focused on increasing support, services, and resources. Moving forward, state teams will participate in two additional in-person meetings, continue to identify barriers to the work, refine and customize action plans, and set new goals, to effect broad-ranging systems change for these vulnerable populations.

Stakeholders of Green Competitiveness: Innovative Approaches for Creating Communicative System

The issue of stakeholder activity and collaboration for developing and promoting the green competitiveness of enterprises are nowadays relevant and play a significant role in creating competitive advantages. Systematization literary sources prove that economic activity is characterizing by specific relationships between a wide set of stakeholders, the effective communicative system can bring potential benefits to all parties and stakeholders have specific expectations regarding various aspects of the enterprises’ operation: organizational, economic, social, environmental etc. The main objective of the article is creating the preconditions for building the stakeholder communication system for promoting the green competitiveness of the company and assessing by stakeholders the results of companies’ activity. The paper used scientific methods are based on logical generalization and scientific abstraction for systematizing the prerequisites for the formation of a system of communications of green competitive stakeholders; typology of green competitiveness stakeholders; formal-logical for determining the determinants and principles of effective collaboration of stakeholders of green competitiveness. For investigating the stakeholders’ assessment of the green competitiveness effects was undertaken Multidimensional scaling analysis and were estimated five outcome dimensions: consumer satisfaction in green goods; efficiency of green goods production; green goods quality and cleaner production; institutional partnership; community impact. For scaling responses in survey research was used a seven-point psychometric Likert scale. A general questioning is provided for five countries: Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Czech Republic, and include the results of the survey the 1236 stakeholders. The results of the assessment showed that in all groups (internal and external) of stakeholder, the employees assessed results of the environmental strategies as «success» – 22,3% and community from another group – 7,45%. The stakeholder opinion is the same. That is evidence that the processes of greening stakeholder’s communication are becoming wider and involve more participants. The result of the research creates the background for improving the system of green competitiveness stakeholder interaction. Keywords stakeholder, green competitiveness, interaction, stakeholder partnership, assessment.

Застосування механізмів проєктного управління у вирішенні екологічних проблем (на прикладі створення природопізнавальної туристичної мапи Голосіївського району міста Києва)

Eco-projects have a high capacity to harmonize relations between three major sustainable development components: economical, ecological and social. The use of project management mechanisms provide opportunities for stakeholder partnership in addressing environmental problems. An essential part of this process is a shared vision of the possible scenarios for spatial development, team-based approach, techniques and procedures of eco-project implementation, along with experience of engaging with the crew. All of the eco-project management aspects mentioned above are the purpose of this work. We intended to summarise the case study that students from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv Earth science and geomorphology Department have been doing as a part of their curriculum “Ecoproject management and international cooperation in the field of nature protection”. The case study raises the problem of fragmented, irrelevant, unreliable or missing information on natural heritage and green areas, which are a foundation of recreational activities and natural-cognitive tourism. The problem has been selected due to COVID-19 pandemic that has been raising awareness of local tourist attractions, environmental security, sustainable development and environment protection. Essentially, creating a comprehensive natural heritage catalogue and guides is the first step towards local tourism promotion and reaching local sustainable development goals. The Project’s vision is to provide a product that offers free, clear and descriptive GIS-based materials on natural heritage and green areas of Kyiv. The mission is to design and publish information materials on natural heritage and green areas using available GIS applications. Final Natural-Cognitive Tourist Map of the Holosiivsky District of Kyiv is an outcome of the work.

Community Paramedicine through Multiple Stakeholder Lenses Using a Modified Soft Systems Methodology

Introduction Community paramedicine (CP) is an emerging model of care which expands paramedic scopes of practice to collaboratively support primary healthcare delivery in underserviced and disadvantaged communities. CP is a patient-centred holistic approach focussed on improving health outcomes, with success heavily reliant on integrative partnerships. This research aimed to identify key stakeholder perspectives about the value of CP in rural Australia. Methods A workshop was conducted using a modified soft system methodology (SSM) that asked participants to consider the value of CP from the perspective of five key stakeholder groups. The 50 participants consisted of paramedics and volunteer ambulance officers, paramedic service executives, paramedic educators, Medicare Local representatives and a general practitioner. Participants were randomly allocated to five stakeholder groups: paramedic profession; Minister for Health and Ageing; consumers, chief executive and executive management team of an ambulance service; and healthcare professionals. The application of SSM placed the five groups into three broad categories of stakeholders: customers, actors, and owners. ‘Customers’ in this context are patients, families and carers. ‘Actors’ are paramedics and volunteer ambulance officers, and ambulance service executives. The ‘owners’ are the Office of the Minister and those with the power to facilitate or block initiatives. Participants were allocated 15 minutes to brainstorm the question: “What can a community paramedic do for you to improve rural health provision?” Group views were verbally shared with all workshop participants and video recorded for analysis. Results The ‘customers’ asked about CP from patient, family and carer perspectives, and were highly engaged with questions about how, when and where CP could operate. The paramedic and volunteer ambulance officer group of ‘actors’ battled to move beyond their emergency response mindset to articulate a clear CP vision. The executive management team responded from a strategic and risk management perspective focussing on patient safety and corporate image. They identified the need to form stakeholder partnerships. The ‘owners’ representing the Office of the Minister focussed on the holistic and wellness benefits of CP. The health professional group anticipated the CP role could provide collaborative care and support doctors. Conclusions The findings suggest many participants had a limited understanding of CP, which creates a barrier for implementation. Key benefits identified included a reduction in financial and physical burdens on the rural healthcare sector and improved outcomes for consumers. Active participation of stakeholders in the process of introducing CP programs, where people are comfortable questioning current practices and encouraged to explore new concepts and innovations, would enable a shared understanding of program aims and expectations. For paramedic services to expand service delivery models in rural Australia community participation and engagement with stakeholders is essential. They and paramedics must be willing to embrace meaningful and collaborative partnerships with patients, broader health networks, social services, politicians and researchers, and be prepared to step away from their traditional ‘command and control’ culture to co-design innovative paramedic models. SSM was a worthwhile approach to stakeholder engagement that has the potential to improve implementation of community paramedic programs through improved inclusion and the valuing of stakeholder perspectives.

Multi Stakeholders Partnership in the Sustainable Indonesian Palm Oil Industry: Study Case Multi Stakeholders Partnership FOKSBI

As a major palm oil producer in the world, Indonesia has the duty to improve and upgrade the sustainably operational standards and pro-environment palm oil industry in accordance with the global sustainable development agenda. This is important, considering the strategic economic value of the Indonesian palm oil industry for national development and its potential strength of political economy at the international level. Critics from the international community regarding unsustainable palm oil practices, environmental degradation, deforestation, and the lack of regulation, become motivation for all stakeholders to improve Indonesian palm oil industry in all sectors and to strengthen its position at the global level. In order to move towards the spirit and ideals, the Indonesian palm oil industry adopted a governance model through a multi stakeholder partnership (MSP) FOKSBI and Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO). The way this Governance model provide solutions to problems and challenges of the Indonesian palm oil industry is analyzed by understanding the concept of Multi Stakeholders Partnership. Multi stakeholders partnership is able to figure out a complicated issue in the Indonesian palm oil industry since it has a characteristic of involving various actors such as government, private sectors, civil society, and international organization which can strengthen commitment and modalities of all the stakeholders in achieving common goals. Thus, coordination and sharing burden will be more directed, equal, and in accordance with their respective advantages. This study uses a qualitative method with the MSP FOKSBI case study in the Indonesian palm oil industry. The result of the study indicates that the MSP FOKSBI and ISPO have a significant part in improving the Indonesian palm oil industry, especially the fundamental transformational change towards a sustainable Indonesian palm oil industry.

Landscape performance evaluation in socio-ecological practice: current status and prospects

In the past decade, performance evaluation becomes a priority area in research and practice in the landscape architecture profession, with its influence originating from the USA and extending to other countries. The goal is to quantitatively demonstrate the environmental, social, and economic benefits of built landscape projects or, at the planning and design stage, to gauge the project’s level of fulfilment to intended goals. Structurally, the evaluation framework facilitates a healthy partnership of diverse stakeholders, including researchers, designers, clients, users, and policy makers. When adaptive design, design for resilience, and design under the uncertainty of climate change become the new norms in landscape architecture practice, performance metrics will gain interest in the communication of design merits. The author reports the current status of landscape performance evaluation by introducing the major players in this enterprise, including supporting professional organizations, accrediting and regulating agencies, research programs, and leading professional firms. In addition, 102 published landscape performance evaluation case studies are analyzed to demonstrate their contributions at the scholarly, practical, and policy levels. Last, the author suggests that the current scope of performance evaluation be expanded and offers recommendations for future development in this area.

The Dynamics of Gender: A Grassroots Perspective on Economic Resilience and Empowerment of the Tonga People in Kariba

This paper examines the dynamics of gender-differentiated effects of economic resilience on rural livelihoods and infrastructure improvements of the Tonga people who predominantly resides in North Western Zimbabwe. The paper interrogates men and women’s empowerment as well as their roles of transforming their lives through engaging in various economic activities and infrastructural development in Mola, Nyaminyami District, Zimbabwe. This study uses a qualitative research approach which is backed by both primary and secondary data collection methods which are underpinned by mixed methods approach involving observation, focus group discussions with community members and in-depth interviews with community leaders and key stakeholders. The study proffers that while economic resilience affects both men and women, it disproportionately affects the amount of work women have to do which has a profound bearing on their ability to innovate and transform their obsolete infrastructure at their disposal. Hence, the study recommends ways to foreground gender mainstreaming in order to address emerging gender related challenges emanating from stereotyping and prejudice, stakeholder engagement and partnerships in revamping existing infrastructure.

School Health Research Network Wales: Development, implementation &amp; contributing to public health policy

Abstract The School Health Research Network (SHRN) was launched in Wales in 2013 as a strategic partnership between Cardiff University, Welsh Government, Public Health Wales (part of the National Health Service) and Cancer Research UK (a research-focused charity). SHRN is led by a multidisciplinary team in the Centre for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer) at Cardiff University. SHRN aims to: 1) provide health and well-being data from a biennial survey for national, regional and local stakeholders, including schools; 2) co-produce school-based health improvement research for Wales; and 3) build capacity for evidence-informed public health policy and practice. Building on and integrating with HBSC infrastructure, a transdisciplinary complex adaptive systems (T-CAS) approach has been employed to develop SHRN, for a national culture of prevention for school health improvement. The T-CAS approach focuses on key stages and activities within a continuous network cycle to facilitate systems level change. The five key stages involve establishing transdisciplinary strategic partnerships, resource investment and linkage, network development, coproduction activities and reciprocal outputs. SHRN has successfully established new cross-sector stakeholder partnerships at multiple levels, and embedded network activity within national and local policy. It has established a programme of school engagement activities to secure membership of 212 (100%) secondary schools in Wales and building on HBSC systems and structures has developed a national data infrastructure with the biennial collection of student and school-level health and wellbeing data. SHRN has co-produced scientific evidence and established a new data-led planning system (e.g. 56 research studies co-produced). It has also secured sustainability funding from health and education, while developing research capacity to generate evidence and support professional practice.

Arts education partnerships: sources of harmony and dissonance with cultural institutions’ collaborative efforts

ABSTRACTDue to budget constraints, schools in the United States have increasingly turned to community arts organizations for support. School-community arts partnership stakeholders collaborate because of shared missions to provide students with valuable arts learning experiences. Investigations of these initiatives indicate that these partnerships improve arts learning opportunities and increase public support and resources for arts education. However, not much is known about the experiences and perspectives of the arts organizations that participate in these partnerships. Coordinating collective efforts with a multitude of institutions and interests poses challenges. In this study, we examine survey data collected from arts organization administrators who participated in a large-scale school-community arts partnership initiative. We find that these organizations are generally positive about their impacts on students’ educational outcomes, but there is substantial variation in these views. We also find that organizations differ in their levels of support for these collective efforts. Sources of this variation appear to be attributable to organizations’ preexisting resources and extent to which they are established. While this difference in levels of support is potentially inevitable, we find evidence that the operations handled by the “backbone” organization, i.e. the initiative’s facilitators and overseers, can significantly influence organizations’ levels of support for these efforts. Organizations are more likely to support these collaborative efforts when they believe the backbone organization ensures transparency with initiative operations, provides regular, effective communication, and effectively resolves competing priorities.

Practitioner Experiences in Teacher Education Partnerships: Examining Practice in an Accredited Professional Development School

In this qualitative study, practitioner researchers used focus group methodology to collect clinical partnership stakeholders’ descriptions of their understanding of rich practitioner practice and the benefits of clinical partnerships as defined by CAEP Standard 2. These descriptions provided the data that was analyzed through a deductive and inductive coding process. It was found that stakeholders described clinical experiences as crucial to teacher candidates’ development of knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions, and identified clinical experiences as the space where theory and practice intersect. Findings also showed that stakeholders identified collaboration, mutually beneficial, sustaining and generative, shared accountability, and positive impact as the key components in a clinical partnership.