Strategy. Community Partnerships and Collaboration
Approach. Foster partnerships with community-based organizations and local agencies to ensure affordable and accessible healthcare services for children
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Overview. Strong partnerships and collaboration with community organizations, schools, and local partners can help raise awareness, promote healthcare utilization, and establish referral networks for children and their families to receive needed health care services. By providing clinical services, advocacy efforts, and pipeline/education opportunities, a clinician-established community health center worked to improve access to healthcare for populations experiencing health disparities and limited access to healthcare, including undocumented immigrants and individuals with limited English proficiency. Advocacy efforts and enhanced clinical services can further improve access to health care services for children and families facing barriers to healthcare access.[1]
Evidence. Moderate Evidence.
Strategies with this rating are likely to work. These strategies have been tested more than once and results trend positive overall; however, further research is needed to confirm effects, especially with multiple population groups. These strategies also trend positive in combination with other strategies. (Clarifying Note: The WWFH database calls this "some evidence").
Access the peer-reviewed evidence
through the MCH Digital Library or related evidence source.
(Read more about understanding evidence ratings).
Source. Peer-Reviewed Literature
Outcome Components. This strategy has shown to have impact on the following outcomes (Read more about these categories):
- Access to/Receipt of Care. This strategy increases the ability for individuals to obtain healthcare services when needed, including preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services.
- Social Determinants of Health. This strategy advances economic, social, and environmental factors that affect health outcomes. SDOH include the conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.
Detailed Outcomes. For specific outcomes related to each study supporting this strategy, access the peer-reviewed evidence and read the Intervention Results for each study.
Intervention Type. Collaboration (Read more about intervention types and levels as defined by the Public Health Intervention Wheel).
Intervention Level. Community-Focused
Examples from the Field.
There are currently no ESMs that use this strategy. As Title V agencies begin to incorporate this strategy into ESMs, examples will be available here. Until then, you can search for ESMs that have similar intervention components in the ESM database.
Sample ESMs. Here are sample ESMs to use as models for your own measures using the Results-Based Accountability framework (for suggestions on how to develop programs to support this strategy, see The Role of Title V in Adapting Strategies).
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Quadrant 1:
Measuring Quantity of Effort ("What/how much did we do?")
- Number of partnerships established between healthcare organizations and community-based entities to improve child health care access and affordability. (Measures collaboration infrastructure.)
- Number of community health workers and navigators deployed through partnerships to connect families to care and support services. (Captures community-based workforce capacity.)
- Number of joint initiatives implemented by healthcare and community partners to address barriers to care and social determinants of health. (Assesses collaborative activities.)
- Number of children who gain access to comprehensive and coordinated care through community partnerships. (Measures impact on care access and integration.)
- Number of families connected to social and economic support services that enable them to prioritize and access healthcare for their children. (Captures impact on social needs.)
- Number of children who receive culturally appropriate and trusted care in community settings through partnerships. (Indicates impact on care acceptability and utilization.)
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Quadrant 2:
Measuring Quality of Effort ("How well did we do it?")
- Percent of partnerships that establish formal agreements outlining roles, responsibilities, and shared accountability for child health outcomes. (Captures partnership quality and sustainability.)
- Percent of community partners that are meaningfully involved in the design, implementation, and evaluation of child health initiatives. (Measures authentic community engagement.)
- Percent of healthcare staff who receive training on community engagement, cultural humility, and cross-sector collaboration. (Assesses workforce capacity for partnership.)
- Percent of children who receive recommended preventive care and screenings in community settings through partnerships. (Measures care quality and continuity in trusted settings.)
- Percent of parents who report positive experiences of care and support when accessing services through community partnerships. (Captures family-centeredness and satisfaction.)
- Percent of children with complex health and social needs who experience improved outcomes and reduced disparities through coordinated care partnerships. (Assesses equity impact.)
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Quadrant 3:
Measuring Quantity of Effect ("Is anyone better off?")
- Number of communities that establish shared data systems and metrics to track child health needs, service utilization, and outcomes across partners. (Measures data-sharing infrastructure.)
- Number of joint advocacy efforts undertaken by healthcare and community partners to advance policies that support child health equity. (Captures policy and systems change efforts.)
- Number of partner organizations that secure sustainable funding streams to maintain child health initiatives and care coordination roles. (Assesses financial sustainability.)
- Number of communities that achieve sustained reductions in child foregone care prevalence through robust healthcare-community partnerships. (Measures long-term, population-level impact.)
- Number of partner organizations that report increased capacity and effectiveness in meeting the health and social needs of children and families. (Captures organizational strengthening impact.)
- Number of successful innovations and best practices disseminated across communities through partnership learning networks. (Assesses spread and scale of what works.)
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Quadrant 4:
Measuring Quality of Effect ("How are they better off?")
- Percent of partnerships that prioritize the engagement and leadership of grassroots organizations representing marginalized communities. (Measures commitment to equity and power-sharing.)
- Percent of resources and funding allocated to community partners to build their capacity and infrastructure for child health equity. (Captures equitable investment.)
- Percent of community health assessments and improvement plans that explicitly address child health disparities and their root causes. (Assesses use of equity lens in partnership activities.)
- Percent reduction in foregone care disparities between children from historically advantaged and disadvantaged communities through targeted partnerships. (Measures equity impact.)
- Percent of children from underserved populations who achieve optimal health and developmental outcomes on par with their more privileged peers. (Captures progress toward equity.)
- Percent increase in community capacity and collective efficacy to advocate for and drive equitable child health policies and systems change. (Assesses empowerment and equity.)
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Note. When looking at your ESMs, SPMs, or other strategies:
- Move from measuring quantity to quality.
- Move from measuring effort to effect.
- Quadrant 1 strategies should be used sparingly, when no other data exists.
- The most effective measurement combines strategies in all levels, with most in Quadrants 2 and 4.
Learn More. Read how to create stronger ESMs and how to measure ESM impact more meaningfully through Results-Based Accountability.
References
[1] Polk, S., DeCamp, L. R., Guerrero Vázquez, M., Kline, K., Andrade, A., Cook, B., Cheng, T., & Page, K. R. (2019). Centro SOL: A Community-Academic Partnership to Care for Undocumented Immigrants in an Emerging Latino Area. Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 94(4), 538–543.
