title: Who's who in the crew? Exploring participant involvement in the Active Living Coalition.
abstract: Health coalitions serve as an important "vehicle" to strengthen horizontal and vertical ties between organizations, community groups, and individuals whose intent and purpose is to improve wellness. Having a strong and diverse group of participants is essential for highly effective coalitions to carry out their mission in an organized and participatory manner. However, the extent that individuals become involved in coalition operations and activities remains ambiguous. A grounded theory approach was used to explore expressions of participant involvement of a local health coalition known as the Active Living Coalition (ALC). Open, axial, as well as domain and taxonomic coding were used to analyze transcripts from four focus groups (n = 37 participants) in order to develop a participant continuum that captured six network aggregates within the coalition. Findings suggest that participation, for the most part, was heterogeneous and ever-changing given the expectations of the level of partnership that best individuals' personal and professional interests. Differentiating the type of participants in health coalitions can help coalition leaders more successfully "manage" new and existing relationships. Findings imply that health coalitions can maximize coalition capacity by drawing upon the full range of potential human and material resources by further understanding the types of individuals that make up their network.
authors: Indiana University Bloomington, School of Public Health, Department of Applied Health Science, 1025 E. 7th St., C019, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. Electronic address: prbarnes@indiana.edu.
authors: Priscilla A
authors: PA
authors: Barnes
authors: Indiana University Health Bloomington, Community Health, 431 S. College Ave, Bloomington, IN 47402, USA. Electronic address: sschaefer@iuhealth.org.
authors: Samantha
authors: S
authors: Schaefer
authors: Indiana University Bloomington, School of Public Health, Department of Applied Health Science, 1025 E. 7(th) St., SPH 116, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. Electronic address: semiddle@indiana.edu.
authors: Susan
authors: S
authors: Middlestadt
authors: Action for Healthy Kids, 600 West Van Buren Street, Suite #720, Chicago, IL 60607, USA. Electronic address: hknoblock@gmail.com.
authors: Heidi
authors: H
authors: Knoblock
mesh_terms: D003256:Community Participation; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D017144:Focus Groups; D006265:Health Care Coalitions / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007196:Indiana; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D015397:Program Evaluation; D014838:Volunteers
keywords: Coalition; Formative evaluation; Participant involvement; Participation