Strength Of Partnerships Research Articles

Evaluation Findings of a Community-Based Intervention for Older Adults With a History of Trauma

Between 70% and 90% of Americans aged 65 and older have experienced at least one traumatic event such as a sexual or physical assault, disaster, illness, or terrorism. Trauma exposure in older adult populations is linked to physical, mental, and cognitive decline. A new approach to improve outcomes of trauma-affected older adults is Person-Centered, Trauma-Informed (PCTI) Care, which promotes the dignity, strength, and empowerment of trauma-affected individuals by incorporating knowledge about trauma into agency programs, policies, and procedures. The Administration for Community Living/Administration on Aging has awarded The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) a grant to develop innovative PCTI interventions for Holocaust survivors. This includes a community-based intervention whereby local leadership councils are developed to identify Holocaust survivor needs, distribute grant funding, train caregivers in PCTI care, and forge partnerships to advance community-led Holocaust survivor care. This program has been implemented in eight major US cities where 168 community leaders dispersed 25 grants serving approximately 500 Holocaust survivors. JFNA conducted an evaluation of the first six of the eight cities to determine the impact of this community-based model on participants and Holocaust survivors and investigate the process by which a community-based model can be replicated. This evaluation used surveys and semi-structured interviews to collect data on variables including understanding of PCTI care, awareness of Holocaust survivor needs, strength of community partnerships, and leadership council sustainability. This session will review evaluation findings including best practices for community-based models of PCTI care, and applicability of findings to other older populations.

Utilizing Partnership Flexibility and Strengths:

Utilizing Partnership Flexibility and Strengths:

4449 Building Capacity in the Flint Community in the Midst of the Ongoing Water Crisis

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Examining the impact of the Building Capacity for Research and Action (BCRA) Award created by the Community Engagement (CE) Program at the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR)--a Clinical & Translational Science Award (CTSA) site at the University of Michigan--in partnership with Community Based Organization Partners (CBOP). METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The BCRA is a funding mechanism that supports new community-engaged research (CEnR) partnerships and projects that address community-identified health needs in Flint, Michigan. BCRA projects are required to be Flint-based and inclusive of both community and academic partners. A study section consisting of 10 MICHR-affiliated faculty and community partners reviewed proposals and made funding decisions. Funded teams were trained on Institutional Review Board (IRB) and reporting requirements by CE staff. MICHR provides support to BCRA-funded teams through monthly email correspondence with the CE Flint connector, budget review, mediation, regulatory assurance of IRB and the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) requirements, coordinating six-month and final reporting, and hosting an annual stakeholder meet and greet. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: In 2017, the BCRA Award submitted its first request for proposals. It received 20 applications in 2018, and selected eight awardees, providing them with a total of $60,000 in funding. Four received $5,000 for partnership development and another four received $10,000 for their research projects. The BCRA Award received 16 applications in 2019, expanding its academic pool to include the University of Chicago, U-M Flint, Michigan State University, and Michigan State University-Flint in addition to the University of Michigan. Five recipients were selected and received a total of $45,000 in funding. One was awarded $5,000 for partnership development and another four were awarded $10,000 for their research projects. MICHR has invested over $100,000 in Flint through this mechanism, which was renewed in 2019. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Each awardee presented at the annual stakeholder meet and greet. They showcased their projects with a brief overview and spoke about their expectations, lessons learned, partnership strengths and challenges, translational issues, and proposed next steps for subsequent grants, publications.

Examining partnerships within an international knowledge translation network focused on youth mental health promotion

BackgroundSystems transformation for health promotion, involving engagement from multiple disciplines and levels of influence, requires an investment in partnership development. Integrated youth service is a collaborative model that brings organisations together to provide holistic care for youth. Frayme is an international knowledge translation network designed to support the uptake and scaling of integrated youth service. Social network analysis (SNA) is the study of relationships among social units and is useful to better understand how partners collaborate within a network to achieve major objectives. The purpose of this paper is to apply SNA to the Frayme network in order to (1) examine the level and strength of partnerships, (2) identify the strategies being employed to promote the main objectives and (3) apply the findings to current research in youth mental health and system transformation.MethodsThe PARTNER tool includes a validated survey and analysis software designed to examine partner interconnections. This tool was used to perform the SNA and 51 of the 75 partners completed the survey (14 researchers, 2 advisory groups and 35 organisations). A network map was created and descriptive frequencies were calculated.ResultsThe overall network scores for the Frayme network were 20.6% for density, 81.5% for centralisation and 71.7% for overall trust. The Frayme secretariat received a 3.84 out of a possible 4 for value. In addition, the youth and family advisories each received a value score of 4 and all Leadership Team organisations received a score of 2.97 or above.ConclusionsThe Frayme secretariat links many partners who would otherwise be disconnected and acts as a significant conduit for novel information. Frayme may have the opportunity to enhance value perceptions among broader network members by profiling individual organisations and the potential leveraging opportunities that might exist through their work. These findings increase understanding with respect to the mechanisms of network development and will be helpful to inform partnership development in the future. In addition, they contribute to the literature with respect to knowledge translation practice as well as the scaling of collaborative interventions within youth mental health.

Prevention of suicidal behaviour: Results of a controlled community-based intervention study in four European countries.

The ‘European Alliance Against Depression’ community-based intervention approach simultaneously targets depression and suicidal behaviour by a multifaceted community based intervention and has been implemented in more than 115 regions worldwide. The two main aims of the European Union funded project “Optimizing Suicide Prevention Programmes and Their Implementation in Europe” were to optimise this approach and to evaluate its implementation and impact. This paper reports on the primary outcome of the intervention (the number of completed and attempted suicides combined as ‘suicidal acts’) and on results concerning process evaluation analysis. Interventions were implemented in four European cities in Germany, Hungary, Portugal and Ireland, with matched control sites. The intervention comprised activities with predefined minimal intensity at four levels: training of primary care providers, a public awareness campaign, training of community facilitators, support for patients and their relatives. Changes in frequency of suicidal acts with respect to a one-year baseline in the four intervention regions were compared to those in the four control regions (chi-square tests). The decrease in suicidal acts compared to baseline in the intervention regions (-58 cases, -3.26%) did not differ significantly (χ2 = 0.13; p = 0.72) from the decrease in the control regions (-18 cases, -1.40%). However, intervention effects differed between countries (χ2 = 8.59; p = 0.04), with significant effects on suicidal acts in Portugal (χ2 = 4.82; p = 0.03). The interviews and observations explored local circumstances in each site throughout the study. Hypothesised mechanisms of action for successful implementation were observed and drivers for ‘added-value’ were identified: local partnership working and ‘in-kind’ contributions; an approach which valued existing partnership strengths; and synergies operating across intervention levels. It can be assumed that significant events during the implementation phase had a certain impact on the observed outcomes. However, this impact was, of course, not proven.

Optimization of Enhancement of Lecturer Professional Commitment using Path Analysis and Sitorem Method

Professional commitment of lecturers is an important element in the achievement of educational goals in universities, but from the initial survey at Pakuan University, it was shown that the current situation is still not as expected. Therefore, Professional commit-ment of lecturers is interesting to be studied. Based on the above background, the purpose of this research is to seek efforts to increase the professional commitment of lectures through the development of empowerment and trust. The study was conducted using path analysis method to determine whether other variables, namely empowerment and trust, had a positive effect towards professional commitment of lectures. The population in this research is permanent lecturer at Pakuan Uni-versity with functional position of Asisten Ahli up to Lektor Kepala amounting to 337 people with sample determined from popula-tion randomly amounted to 135 people. To obtain optimal results in an effort to increase the professional commitment of lecturers used Sitorem Method. The results showed that : (a) there is a positive direct influence of empowerment to organizational commitment, (b) there is a posi-tive direct effect of empowerment to organizational commitment, (c) there is a direct positive influence of trust on organizational commitment. From Sitorem's analysis it is concluded that there is a preserved indicator, i.e. open communication, readiness to accept occupation risks, sooth, and improvement desire, and indicators that need to be improved in order of priority of treatment is as follows: 1. au-thority, 2. discretion, 3. creativity and innovation, 4. confidence in ability and strength, 5. openness, 6. partnership strength, 7. awareness, 8. dedication and devotion, 9. consistency, 10. skills development..

Driving factors of digital strategic actions in competitive dynamics

Based on the competitive dynamics theory and from the exploitation/exploration perspective, this study explored the impetus and differences in incremental and radical digital strategic actions (DSAs) using 250 cases. We found that the quantity and diversity of partners were the core factors for launching successful incremental DSAs, and partnership strength was the core condition to start successful radical DSAs. We also found that digital assets' depth and breadth was the necessary prerequisites to initiate the two types of DSAs. This study aimed to help managers formulate and initiate competitive actions more effectively in a digital environment.

A taxonomy of hospitals based on partnerships for population health management.

Background:Hospitals face growing pressures and opportunities to engage with partner organizations in efforts to improve population health at the community level. Variation has been observed in the degree to which hospitals develop such partnerships.Purpose:The aim of this study was to generate a taxonomy of hospitals based on their partnerships with external organizations, employing the theoretical notion of organizations’ focus on exploration versus exploitation.Methodology:With 1,238 valid cases from the 2015 American Hospital Association Population Health Survey, our study uses items asking about the level of partnership strength for 36 named partner types. Excluding three variables with low reliability, 33 variables are classified into six partner groups by factor analysis. Then, cluster analysis is conducted to generate a taxonomy of hospitals based on their partnerships with the six partner groups.Findings:Of 1,238 hospitals, 26.1% are classified as exploratory hospitals that develop more collaborative relationships with partners outside the medical sector. Exploitative hospitals (18.3%) focus on relationships with traditional medical sector partners. Ambidextrous hospitals (27.0%) develop partnerships both in and outside the medical sector. Finally, independent hospitals (28.6%) do not establish strong partnerships. Larger hospitals, not-for-profit hospitals, and teaching hospitals are more likely to be classified as exploratory.Practice Implications:The four-cluster taxonomy can provide hospital and health system leaders and managers with a better understanding of the wide variation in partnerships that hospitals establish and insights into their different strategic options with regard to partnership development.

Collaborations between Libraries and Writing/Tutoring Services are Diverse and Provide Opportunities to Support Student Success and Information Literacy Outcomes

A Review of:
 Jackson, H. A. (2017). Collaborating for student success: An e-mail survey of U.S. libraries and writing centers. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 43(4), 281-296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2017.04.005
 Abstract
 Objective – To collect information on the existence and characteristics of collaborative partnerships between libraries and writing centers/writing tutoring services.
 Design – Email survey questionnaire.
 Setting – Academic libraries, writing centers, and writing tutoring services at two-year, four-year, and graduate/professional institutions across the United States of America.
 Subjects – 1,460 librarians, writing center staff, and tutoring services staff.
 Methods – Subjects were invited to participate based on a “. . . random sampling of 33% of each institutional “Size and Setting” group from the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education” and the availability of contact information for the library or writing center at the randomly sampled institutions (p. 282). Respondents who identified an existing partnership between the library and writing center/tutoring services answered questions regarding collaboration methods, training, and promotion as well as open-ended questions on goals, assessment, ideal relationship qualities, strengths, and weaknesses. In the absence of a known partnership, questions focused on potential for, and ideal methods of, collaboration.
 Main Results – The survey had a response rate of 13.5%, based on the 197 responses that met the criteria for inclusion in the results. Of the respondents, 117 identified as librarians, 59 as writing center staff, and 21 as tutoring services staff. Respondents were affiliated with institutions in 43 states and the District of Columbia. 65% of respondents reported that a collaborative relationship between the writing center and library existed at their institution. Of those without a known current partnership, 77% believed there was potential for collaboration. Top existing collaborations included instruction (21%), student orientations (16%), appointments (14%), classroom presentations (14%), and writing tutors embedded in the library (14%). Only 35% identified strategic goals for collaborations. Respondents engaged in partnerships highlighted shared space, referrals, a unified focus on student success, and defined roles as top ideal partnership characteristics. Key partnership strengths included teamwork/relationship, focus on student success, and shared goals/knowledge/resources. Common weaknesses included lack of communication, planning, shared space, patron awareness, funding, staff, and collaboration.
 Conclusion – Diverse collaborations between libraries and writing centers/writing tutoring services exist. These collaborations may provide opportunities to support student success and information literacy outcomes. Based on survey results, the author suggested that improved communication between partners could mitigate identified weaknesses and assist in achieving partnership ideals. Additionally, increased creation and assessment of strategic partnership goals may strengthen communication and planning. Many respondents were interested in shared library and writing center space, an area which requires further research. Ultimately, the author concluded that more investigation is needed to inform best practices for partnerships.

Partnership strength and diversity with suppliers

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to better understand the effects of independent restaurant partnerships upon product innovation associated with performance by investigating differences in business situations between startup and established independent restaurant sectors.Design/methodology/approachPartnership strength and diversity were assessed to identify their influence on restaurant product innovation and performance using a structural equation model to test the study’s hypotheses. A multi-group analysis was used to examine the moderating roles of business life cycle on the relationships between partnership strength and diversity and product innovation.FindingsResults found that product innovation implementation requires strong and diverse partnerships with suppliers to improve independent restaurant performance. Diverse partnerships have a more positive effect upon product innovation than do strong partnerships. The positive effect partnership strength with suppliers had upon product innovation was significantly greater for startup restaurants, while its positive effect of diversity was greater for established restaurants.Practical implicationsFindings can be used to establish effective strategic partnerships with independent restaurant suppliers and to manage them more effectively in consideration of their business characteristics being startup or established operations.Originality/valueThis study was an initial attempt to empirically prove significant roles of partnership strength and diversity applied to the context of independent restaurant product innovation. Findings regarding different effects of partnership strength and diversity contributed to the existing body of knowledge about strategic partnerships with suppliers.

Toward Optimizing Global Learning Opportunities for US Physical Therapy Students: A Description of Current Practices and Initial Recommendations

Purpose. To examine and describe the structure, curricular objectives, and outcome measurement practices of faculty developing and providing international opportunities in physical therapy education programs and to provide guidance and initial recommendations for faculty. Background. Physical therapy educational programs are adding international opportunities as a way to address the increasingly global nature of the profession. Guidelines to enhance practice, optimize the experience, and provide structure for managing risk are warranted. Methods. A researcher-developed survey was distributed to 216 physical therapy education programs and professional listservs. Respondents from 56 programs (26%) returned the survey. Data were analyzed descriptively. Results. Most respondents cited global understanding as critical to the physical therapy profession, and the reason for involving students in global learning opportunities. Knowledge of the host site, sustainability, and potential strength of partnership were cited as the most important factors when choosing an international community partner. Risk management efforts included supplemental insurance, availability of emergency contact information, safe transportation and housing plans, and plans for adverse occurrences. Conclusion. This study supplements previous literature in designing international student experiences. Activities addressing clear purposes and expected outcomes for all participants, including the community partner, and the university-community partnership before, during, and after the experience are essential.

Establishing New Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships using the Community-Based Participatory Research Charrette Model: Lessons from the Cancer Health Accountability for Managing Pain and Symptoms Study.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a collaborative and equitable approach to research inquiry; however, the process of establishing and maintaining CBPR partnerships can be challenging. There is an ongoing need for innovative strategies that foster partnership development and long-term sustainability. In 2010, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill developed a CBPR charrette model to facilitate stakeholder engagement in translational research. To describe how the Cancer Health Accountability for Managing Pain and Symptoms (CHAMPS) Study leveraged the CBPR charrette process to develop and strengthen its CBPR partnership and successfully implement research objectives. Fourteen CHAMPS community, academic, and medical partners participated in the CBPR charrette. Two co-facilitators guided the charrette application process and in-person discussion of partnership strengths, needs, and challenges. Community experts (CEs) and academic experts (AEs) with extensive experience in CBPR and health disparities provided technical assistance and recommendations during the in-person charrette. Overall, the CHAMPS partnership benefited significantly from the charrette process. Specifically, the charrette process engendered greater transparency, accountability, and trust among CHAMPS partners by encouraging collective negotiation of project goals and implementation, roles and responsibilities, and compensation and communication structures. The process also allowed for the exploration of newly identified challenges and potential solutions with support from CEs and AEs. Furthermore, the charrette also functioned as a catalyst for capacity building among CHAMPS community, academic, and medical partners. Future studies should compare the impact of the CBPR charrette, relative to other approaches, on partnership development and process evaluation outcomes.

Establishing a Baseline: Community Benefit Spending by Not-for-Profit Hospitals Prior to Implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Community Benefit spending by not-for-profit hospitals has served as a critical, formalized part of the nation's safety net for almost 50 years. This has occurred mostly through charity care. This article examines how not-for-profit hospitals spent Community Benefit dollars prior to full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Using data from 2009 to 2012 hospital tax and other governmental filings, we constructed national, hospital-referral-region, and facility-level estimates of Community Benefit spending. Data were collected in 2015 and analyzed in 2015 and 2016. Data were matched at the facility level for a non-profit hospital's IRS tax filings (Form 990, Schedule H) and CMS Hospital Cost Report Information System and Provider of Service data sets. During 2009, hospitals spent about 8% of total operating expenses on Community Benefit. This increased to between 8.3% and 8.5% in 2012. The majority of spending (>80%) went toward charity care, unreimbursed Medicaid, and subsidized health services, with approximately 6% going toward both community health improvement and health professionals' education. By 2012, national spending on Community Benefit likely exceeded $60 billion. The largest hospital systems spent the vast majority of the nation's Community Benefit; the top 25% of systems spent more than 80 cents of every Community Benefit dollar. Community Benefit spending has remained relatively steady as a proportion of total operating expenses and so has increased over time-although charity care remains the major focus of Community Benefit spending overall. More than $60 billion was spent on Community Benefit prior to implementation of the ACA. New reporting and spending requirements from the IRS, alongside changes by the ACA, are changing incentives for hospitals in how they spend Community Benefit dollars. In the short term, and especially the long term, hospital systems would do well to partner with public health, other social services, and even competing hospitals to invest in population-based activities. The mandated community health needs assessment process is a logical home for these sorts of collaborations. Relatively modest investments can improve the baseline level of health in their communities and make it easier to improve population health. Aside from a population health justification for a partnership model, a business case is necessary for widespread adoption of this approach. Because of their authorities, responsibilities, and centuries of expertise in community health, public health agencies are in a position to help hospitals form concrete, sustainable collaborations for the improvement of population health. The ACA will likely change the delivery of uncompensated and charity care in the United States in the years to come. How hospitals choose to spend those dollars may be influenced greatly by the financial and political environments, as well as the strength of community partnerships.

Lessons learnt from the MAGNET Malawian-German Hospital Partnership: the German perspective on contributions to patient care and capacity development

BackgroundMalawi is a low-income country with one of the highest HIV prevalence rates worldwide (Kendig et al., Trop Med Health 41:163–170, 2013). The health system depends largely on external funding. Official German development aid has supported health care in Malawi for many years (German Embassy Lilongwe, The German Development Cooperation in Malawi), including placing medical doctors in various departments of the Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe. In 2008, a hospital partnership called MAGNET (Malawi German Networking for Capacity Building in Treatment, Training and Research at KCH) evolved as part of the German ESTHER network. The partnership was abruptly terminated in 2015.MethodsWe reviewed 35 partnership documents and conducted an online survey of partnership stakeholders to retrospectively assess the hospital partnership based on the Capacity WORKS model of the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ). This model evaluates systems’ management and implementation to understand and support the functioning of cooperation within societies. Based on this model, we considered the five success factors for cooperation management: (1) strategy, (2) cooperation, (3) steering, (4) processes, and (5) learning and innovation. In an online survey, we used an adapted version of the partnership evaluation tool by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).ResultsFrom 2008 to 2015, the MAGNET partnership contributed to capacity building and improved patient care in the KCH Medical Department through clinical care, technical support, teaching and trainings, and operations research based on mutually agreed upon objectives. The MAGNET partnership was implemented in three phases during which there were changes in leadership in the Medical Department and the hospital, contractual policies, funder priorities and the competing influences of other actors. Communication and follow up among partners worked best during phases when a German doctor was onsite. The partnership was judged as a positive driver for change and support within the Medical Department, but eventually failed to implement self-sustainable, robust processes within the partnership to cope with multiple changes and challenges.ConclusionThe MAGNET partnership made a considerable contribution to patient care, continuous medical education and operations research at KCH, despite its abrupt termination. Changes in the institutional infrastructure, donor policy and interpersonal relations contributed to the loss of shared expectations and the end of the project.Institutional-hospital partnerships, like MAGNET, can make a valuable contribution to health care provision and hence a wider health agenda, provided there is a flexible, mutually agreed upon strategy, personal commitment, continuous communication and robust processes. However, partnership projects remain vulnerable to the influences of external actors and structures. Ministries of Health and donor agencies should appreciate the particular strength of hospital partnerships.

Health Information Technology Scholars Program: From Implementation to Outcomes.

This article reports the development, implementation, and outcomes of the Health Information Technology Scholars (HITS) program. HITS is one of nine faculty development collaborative projects funded by the Health Resource Service Administration to integrate information and other technologies in nursing education and practice. In addition to evaluating the content and context of the program, the evaluation includes descriptive statistics, goal attainment scaling, diffusion of innovation index, utilization of knowledge survey, and exemplars from scholars. The HITS program developed 265 faculty across 132 nursing programs in 43 states over 5 years. HITS scholars impacted more than 59,000 students and 9,000 other faculty. These technology leaders have numerous presentations, publications, and awards. Success of the HITS program is attributed to the strength of the faculty development collaborative partnership, the applicant selection process, and the program design.

Levering elements to small business strategic networks: the perception of business partners

This study aims to identify the elements that leverage the competitiveness of small business strategic networks (SBSNs) and to analyse how these elements are regarded by the business partners in SBSNs. The findings suggest that a set of elements serves this function, including the governance of the network, the share of resources/capabilities, the depth of exchange relations and the strength of the partnerships formed. Governance may be related to self-management-oriented abilities and consolidation. Centralised production can facilitate the sharing of resources and optimise the use of available capacities. Greater partnership strength may contribute to consolidating alliances and to sharing information. Companies must improve how they share technical knowledge and information with their partners and adopt global indicators, such as costs, sales and operations. Moreover, companies must undertake marketing actions together, such as participating in fairs and engaging in co-branded usage (to reinforce their value and strengthen the network brand). In particular, in the case studies investigated herein, such findings contribute by helping to align the management practices of SBSNs operating in the printing and metal-mechanics industries.

Leveraging elements to small business strategic networks: the perception of business partners

This study aims to identify the elements that leverage the competitiveness of small business strategic networks (SBSNs) and to analyse how these elements are regarded by the business partners in SBSNs. The findings suggest that a set of elements serves this function, including the governance of the network, the share of resources/capabilities, the depth of exchange relations and the strength of the partnerships formed. Governance may be related to self-management-oriented abilities and consolidation. Centralised production can facilitate the sharing of resources and optimise the use of available capacities. Greater partnership strength may contribute to consolidating alliances and to sharing information. Companies must improve how they share technical knowledge and information with their partners and adopt global indicators, such as costs, sales and operations. Moreover, companies must undertake marketing actions together, such as participating in fairs and engaging in co-branded usage (to reinforce their value and strengthen the network brand). In particular, in the case studies investigated herein, such findings contribute by helping to align the management practices of SBSNs operating in the printing and metal-mechanics industries.

Whose Foot is in the Tight Shoe?

The lack of synergy between existing child marriage prevention initiatives and a systems approach to child protection limits children’s access to holistic services that can help reduce their vulnerability to early marriage. From an integrated feminist and child rights standpoint, culture, religious traditions and poverty do not justify the sexual exploitation of female children, nor fixation on “soft” interventions as a strategy for eradicating child marriage. The slow pace of change in behaviours and attitudes towards child marriage in West Africa necessitates a rethinking of the nuances of community resistance to change, and the implementation of more vigorous actions to ensure just treatment of children. Initiatives to prevent and eradicate child marriage must be cognizant of the strength of multisectoral partnerships and the overarching legal frameworks for the protection of children. State parties need to ensure that the pathways for change reflect the interplay of robust child protection legislations, well-resourced child protection systems, viable local community resources, investments in research on child marriage, and state leadership in holding child marriage perpetrators accountable for their actions.

An empirical study of early childhood support through partnership building

The first five years were recognized as a critical period of child growth. Accordingly, California voters approved tobacco tax through Proposition 10 to fund early childhood services since 1998. Due to the state revenue decline, Service Integration has been advocated to enhance program supports in Child Health, Family Functioning, and Child Development. In this study, interview data are analyzed to examine the partnership building among 40 programs. The results indicate a significant impact of the service outreach across remote communities in Kern County, California. In addition, contextual information is provided to facilitate interpretation of the partnership strength from a social network analysis. Enhancement of this investigation is discussed in light of future development.

China's Soft Power Projection in Higher Education

Conclusion These collaborations illustrate several key points about internationalization. First, Singapore’s misplaced optimism that led to its failed science park venture in Suzhou underlines the fact that presumed cultural and linguistic affinity does not serve as an adequate basis for international partnerships (especially beyond the first-generation diaspora). Second, the fact that most of the partnerships indicated above are in the area of business and administration underlines a more widespread bias in such agreements. Thus, the prospects for developing effective partnerships in areas such as the social sciences and humanities do not appear strong. Third, the strength of regional partnerships and agreements is a refreshing reminder that not all internationalization occurs between “the West and the rest,” or between elite institutions in the West. Internationalization is a broad river, with many fascinating if still largely unexplored tributaries.