A Study Of The Characteristics, Participant Perceptions And Predictors Of Effectiveness In Community Partnerships In Health Personnel Education: The Case Of South Africa
type: CreativeWork
description: A community coalition is a formal alliance of organisations, groups and agencies that have come together for a common goal. Collaborative partnerships between the health professionals and the communities they serve have received attention as a strategy for achieving health gain and are spreading globally. This partnership approach has a potential for a synergistic maximization of impact and has been advocated as a means to increase citizen participation and ownership among under-privileged groups. Despite the popular appeal and theoretical promise of this approach, the precise domains that need to be fostered by the stakeholders to implement this complex model remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the characteristics and perceptions of the CPs' stakeholders as regards the structural characteristics and operational parameters of the partnerships, as well as the correlates of effectiveness and impact for each participant group. Of particular interest was to identify the characteristics which enable partnerships to fulfill their organizational tasks and goals, regardless of the scope or complexity of purpose. The five CPs were located across South Africa and aimed at Health Professions Education reforms. Quantitative data was collected from 668 coalition members and qualitative data from 46 strategic participants. The partnerships' documents were also scrutinized and ample participant observations were undertaken. The data was then pooled and the comparison groups were constructed: the professionals, comprising of staff from the academic institutions and the health service providers, the community members and the full-time paid employees of the partnerships, the core staff. The analyses of the partner's opinions and views as well as the predictors of accomplishment of diverse stakeholders hold lessons for managers concerned with health coalitions. Generally, training and development seem to be the main thrust of the partnerships' missions…
abstract: A community coalition is a formal alliance of organisations, groups and agencies that have come together for a common goal. Collaborative partnerships between the health professionals and the communities they serve have received attention as a strategy for achieving health gain and are spreading globally. This partnership approach has a potential for a synergistic maximization of impact and has been advocated as a means to increase citizen participation and ownership among under-privileged groups. Despite the popular appeal and theoretical promise of this approach, the precise domains that need to be fostered by the stakeholders to implement this complex model remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the characteristics and perceptions of the CPs' stakeholders as regards the structural characteristics and operational parameters of the partnerships, as well as the correlates of effectiveness and impact for each participant group. Of particular interest was to identify the characteristics which enable partnerships to fulfill their organizational tasks and goals, regardless of the scope or complexity of purpose. The five CPs were located across South Africa and aimed at Health Professions Education reforms. Quantitative data was collected from 668 coalition members and qualitative data from 46 strategic participants. The partnerships' documents were also scrutinized and ample participant observations were undertaken. The data was then pooled and the comparison groups were constructed: the professionals, comprising of staff from the academic institutions and the health service providers, the community members and the full-time paid employees of the partnerships, the core staff. The analyses of the partner's opinions and views as well as the predictors of accomplishment of diverse stakeholders hold lessons for managers concerned with health coalitions. Generally, training and development seem to be the main thrust of the partnerships' missions…
author: Ansari, Walid El
language: eng
keywords: Personnel, Management, Partnerships, Collaborative Partnerships, health professionals, South Africa
date published: 1999-9
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:38:46Z
provider: University of South Wales
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of South Wales