title: PRISM: mounting a community-randomised trial. Establishing partnerships with local government.
abstract: This paper describes initial partnership development in PRISM (Program of Resources, Information and Support for Mothers), a community-randomised trial to improve maternal health in the first year after birth conducted in Victoria in the period 1998--2003. First, we discuss the principles underpinning community recruitment methods in PRISM that guided both our initial approaches to, and our continuing relationships with, communities. Second, we outline the strategies used to recruit communities and to establish the groundwork for ongoing partnerships over the projected six years of the study.
authors.affiliation: Mother and Child Health Research, School of Public Health, La Trobe University, Victoria. r.small@latrobe.edu.au
authors.forename: Rhonda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Small
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: Lyndsey
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lumley
mesh_terms: D003153:Community Health Services; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009111:Local Government; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011247:Pregnancy; D016730:Program Development