Community Partnerships began in the fall of 2002 as a way to explore how different communities approach injury prevention. This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded project is based on the concept that communities are in the best position to know their own needs and how to solve local issues. Researchers from the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC) are responsible for conducting and analyzing the relationship of injury coalitions on injury prevention in rural communities. The study is an extension of an existing community-academic partnership between KIPRC and local community coalitions for injury prevention. KIPRC was created in a collaborative effort between the Kentucky Department of Public Health and the University of Kentucky to address the burden of injury on the commonwealth.
Drawn in part from the theories of social capital, KIPRC staff is working with several county-based injury prevention coalitions to study their structural and programmatic themes. The four community coalitions involved in the research are located in Madison County, Metcalfe County, and Barren County, Kentucky and Holmes County, Ohio. Social capital is the degree to which local organizations work collaboratively to benefit their community. The research questions are aimed at investigating what makes injury prevention coalitions effective and what skills and knowledge are needed to move coalitions to higher levels of success. One outcome of the project will be a model that can be used by other groups seeking to become more effective coalitions. In partnership with the injury prevention coalitions, KIPRC hopes to identify and share with others new ways to enrich public health.
Community Partnership is
supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Cooperative
Agreement R06/CCR421561-02.
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