title: Exploring the unanticipated effects of multi-sectoral partnerships in chronic disease prevention.
abstract: Multi-sectoral partnerships are important parts of many public health efforts to address chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Despite the potential value of multi-sectoral approaches, uncertainty exists regarding their effects on individuals, organizations, communities and populations. This article reports on a study that examined the unanticipated effects (both positive and negative) of the Public Health Agency of Canada's (the Agency) Multi-sectoral Partnerships initiative, which supports more than 30 multi-sectoral partnership projects across Canada. Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from organizations participating in 3 diverse partnership projects as part of the Agency's multi-sectoral partnerships initiative. Multiple unanticipated effects were identified and organized into 4 themes: (1) insights about the flexibility and responsiveness of government; (2) access to new and valuable resources (people, skills, expertise); (3) opportunity to build new capacities; and (4) understanding realistic timelines for partnership activities and outcomes. While these effects were unanticipated for study participants, they resonate with insights from the literature on multi-sectoral partnerships. These results raise a number of questions for consideration as partnership initiatives continue to evolve, including the types of training that partners might need; the individual and organizational capacities required for partnership approaches; and the evaluation techniques that might be most useful to capture the non-linear effects of partnership approaches.
authors.affiliation: Propel Centre for Population Health Impact, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada; Menzies Centre for Health Policy and The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: cameron.willis@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Cameron David
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Willis
authors.affiliation: Propel Centre for Population Health Impact, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada. Electronic address: canschet@uwaterloo.ca.
authors.forename: Crystal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Corrigan
authors.affiliation: Propel Centre for Population Health Impact, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada. Electronic address: lstockto@uwaterloo.ca.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stockton
authors.affiliation: Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Electronic address: julie.greene@phac-aspc.gc.ca.
authors.forename: Julie Kathryn
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.affiliation: Propel Centre for Population Health Impact, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada. Electronic address: briley@uwaterloo.ca.
authors.forename: Barbara Lyn
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Riley
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health; D055818:Public-Private Sector Partnerships
keywords: Chronic disease prevention; Cross-sectoral partnerships; Multi-sectoral partnerships; Public–private partnerships