Toward a comprehensive strategy for effective practitioner-scientist partnerships and larger-scale community health and well-being

Abstract

This article articulates joint priorities for the fields of prevention science and community psychology. These priorities are intended to address issues raised by the frequent observation of natural tensions between community practitioners and scientists. The first priority is to expand the knowledge base on practitioner-scientist partnerships, particularly on factors associated with positive outcomes within communities. To further articulate this priority, the paper first discusses the rapid growth in community-based partnerships and the emergent research on them. Next described is an illustrative research project on a partnership model that links state university extension and public school delivery systems. The article then turns to the second, related priority of future capacity-building for diffusion of effective partnership-based interventions to achieve larger-scale health and well-being across communities. It outlines two salient tasks: clarification of a conceptual framework and the formulation of a comprehensive capacity-building strategy for diffusion. The comprehensive strategy would require careful attention to the expansion of networks of effective partnerships, partnership-based research agendas, and requisite policy-making.

Fig. 1

PROSPER organizational structure for state public education partnerships. Note: Dashed lines represent intermittent direct contact; solid lines represent regular direct contact. These partnerships are presently called PROSPER Partnerships (PROmoting School/community–university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience). Source: Spoth, Greenberg, Bierman, and Redmond (2004). PROSPER community–university partnership model for public education systems: capacity-building for evidence-based, competence-building prevention. Invited article for Prevention Science (special issue), 5(1), 31–39. (Adapted with the kind permission of Kluwer Academic Publishers.)

Fig. 2

Partnership process-to-outcome model for implementation of evidence-based youth and family competence-building interventions.