Tools for building clinic-community partnerships to support chronic disease control and prevention.
Developing partnerships among health care clinics and community organizations is an important strategy for increasing resources and supports for chronic disease care and management. Although several tools assessing partnership characteristics exist, tools to assess the progression from partnership development to the achievement of specific short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes have not been developed to date. The purpose of this article is to introduce tools developed by the Diabetes Initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to fill that gap.



The Diabetes Initiative used a group process with program grantees to better delineate the phases of partnership development that contribute to the achievement of a shared long-term goal. The Framework for Building Clinic-Community Partnerships to Support Chronic Disease Control and Prevention presented in this article was developed as a result of this process. To apply the framework, 3 checklists were created to correspond to each stage of the framework. The final tools include the framework; 3 checklists with items to assess partnership development, agency capacity within and between agencies, and intermediate and long-term outcomes; and a form to facilitate changes to improve the partnership. Overall, these tools seek to aid partnerships in achieving the best possible chronic disease outcomes.
Barnidge
Ellen K
EK
The Saint Louis University School of Public Health, St. Louis, Missouri (Dr Barnidge, Dr Baker)
Brownson
Carol A
CA
Division of Health Behavior Research, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri (Ms Brownson)
Baker
Elizabeth A
EA
The Saint Louis University School of Public Health, St. Louis, Missouri (Dr Barnidge, Dr Baker)
Shetty
Gowri
G
Arizona Department of Health Services, Bureau of Tobacco Education and Prevention, Phoenix, Arizona (Ms Shetty)
D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012648:Self Care