Paper
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
This presentation is part of : Reaching High-Risk Families: Successes and Struggles in Translating Research into Practice
A Community Partnership to Improve Services for High Risk Families: Factors that Contribute to Success
Lisa Klotzbach, MA, RN, Olmsted Public Health Services, Rochester, MN, USA, Kathy Orth, MS, RN, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Winona State University, Rochester, MN, USA, and Barb Huus, MS, RN, Department of Nursing, Olmsted County Public Health Services, Rochester, MN, USA.
Meeting the complex and often chaotic needs of high-risk families within a community partnership can be a daunting task. An analysis of the factors that contribute to the success of such a partnership can help other programs meet the demanding and emergent needs of these children and families. There is limited research on the factors which contribute to the success of a partnership.

Objective: 1. Analyze partners’ perceptions of factors which enhanced or detracted from the success of the partnership. 2. Describe partners’ perceptions of their own role and influence within the partnership.

Design: Exploratory Descriptive

Population, Sample, Setting, Years: A midwestern US baccalaureate nursing program, county public health department and large clinic formed a partnership to provide services to high risk families. All members of the partnership were invited to participate in this study from 2001-2004.

Concept or Variables Studied Together: Perceptions of synergy, strengths, weaknesses, efficiency, effectiveness, benefits, drawbacks and decision-making processes were studied.

Methods: The Partnership Self-Assessment Tool was administered online to elicit responses related to how the participants viewed the partnership. Additionally, participants completed an open-ended questionnaire querying them about their perceptions of this partnership. Data were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics and qualitatively by looking for common themes.

Findings: Joint decision making, equitable financial support, and shared values were a few of many factors contributing to the perception of a highly successful partnership Baseline data suggest participants were positive in regards to their involvement in the partnership, the achievement of goals and their influence within the partnership.

Conclusions: These findings confirm that interagency collaboration to deliver a home visiting program to high-risk families is an effective strategy.

Implications: This study provides unique insights into how to successfully collaborate within a partnership to deliver care to high risk families.

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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 21, 2004