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What Coalition Factors Foster Community Capacity? Lessons Learned From the Fighting Back InitiativeBoston University School of Public Health, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Center to Prevent Alcohol-Problems Among Young People, Boston, Massachusetts, rzakocs{at}bu.edu
Boston University School of Public Health, Join Together Program, Boston, Massachusetts Coalitions build community capacity by encouraging local organizations to expand services, programs, or policies (i.e., organizational capacity). The aim of the study was to identify coalition factorsresources, lead agency, governance, and leadershipthat foster organizational capacity. Thirteen coalitions funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Fighting Back (FB) Initiative were examined in a multiple-site case study where coalition served as the unit of analysis. Organizational capacity was measured by creating a scale for each community based on changes in programs, services, or policies among eight types of organizations. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted to identify relationships among organizational capacity and coalition factors. FB sites with greater organizational capacity shared seven characteristics: received more funds for coalition building; delayed establishing new lead agencies; were housed in agencies supportive of FB; maintained stable, participatory decision-making bodies; cultivated active involvement of local government; practiced collaborative leadership; and had effective, long-serving project directors.
Key Words: coalitions community capacity community-based intervention substance abuse prevention
This version was published on April
1, 2007 Health Education & Behavior, Vol. 34, No. 2,
354-375 (2007) |
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