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Effects of Sectoral Diversity on Community Coalition Processes and Outcomes

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Abstract

Collaboration with diverse partners is challenging but essential for the implementation of prevention programs and policies. Increased communication with partners from diverse sectors may help community coalitions overcome the challenges that diversity presents. We examined these issues empirically in a study of 17 substance use prevention coalitions in Mexico. Building on coalition and workgroup literatures, we hypothesized that sectoral diversity would improve outcomes but undermine coalition processes. Conversely, we expected uniformly positive effects from higher levels of intersectoral communication. Data are from a 2015 survey of 211 members within the 17 community coalitions. Regression models used sectoral diversity and intersectoral communication to predict coalition processes (cohesion, leader-member communication, efficiency) and outcomes (community support, community improvement, sustainability planning). Sectoral diversity was negatively associated with coalition processes and was not associated with coalition outcomes. Intersectoral communication was positively associated with two of the three measures of coalition outcomes but not associated with coalition processes. Our findings concur with those from prior research indicating that sectoral diversity may undermine coalition processes. However, more communication between sectors may facilitate the coalition outcomes of community support and sustainability planning. Skilled team leaders and participatory decision making may also help coalitions promote intersectoral communication, thereby engaging diverse community sectors to implement preventive interventions and actualize sustained public health impact.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the US Embassy in Mexico. Additionally, this study was supported in part by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) through a Community Networks Program Center grant, U54 CA153505. Findings and recommendations herein are not official statements of the US Embassy or the NCI. We are grateful for the time contributed by the many coalition members who participated in this study. We also acknowledge the leadership of Rebeca Ramos, Nora Gallegos, and Apolonia Hernandez of the Alliance of Border Collaboratives, without whom this research would not have been possible. We thank Karen Phillips for her scientific review and editorial assistance with the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 1101 N. Campbell, Room 409, El Paso, TX, 79902, USA

    Louis D. Brown

  2. Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA

    Rebecca Wells

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, El Paso, TX, USA

    Eric C. Jones

  4. Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA

    Sarah Meyer Chilenski

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  1. Louis D. Brown
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Correspondence to Louis D. Brown.

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Funding

This research was supported by a grant from the US Embassy in Mexico. Additionally, this study was supported in part by the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) through a Community Networks Program Center grant, U54 CA153505. Findings and recommendations herein are not official statements of the U.S. Embassy or the NCI.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Brown, L.D., Wells, R., Jones, E.C. et al. Effects of Sectoral Diversity on Community Coalition Processes and Outcomes. Prev Sci 18, 600–609 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-017-0796-y

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