Subject: Report #3 from CCPH conference in Minneapolis!

What perspectives do funding agencies bring to the whole arena of 
community-campus partnerships?  When considering proposals for community-campus 
partnerships, what do they look for as evidence of an authentic partnership, of 
a promising program?  In what ways are funding agencies themselves partners in 
these partnerships?  The morning plenary panel on the last day of the CCPH 
conference, Saturday June 3rd, aimed to find out!

All plenary sessions at the conference, including the keynote presentations, 
the funder panel and the question/answer periods, were recorded and will be 
transcribed and edited for publication in the 2006 issue of CCPH's 
peer-reviewed, online open access publication Partnership Perspectives.   Below 
are highlights of the panelists' remarks:

Joan Cleary, Associate Director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota 
Foundation began by reminding us that although Minnesota is considered  to be 
the healthiest state in the nation and has a high rate of health insurance 
(7.4% of people are uninsured at some point during the year), there are 
significant health disparities among the states' growing immigrant and refugee 
population.  The state has large Hmong, Somali and Liberian communities, a 
rapidly growing Latino population and the second largest urban concentration of 
American Indians in the
U.S.  The Minnesota Department of Health has documented higher rates of illness 
among people of color and a Brookings Institution report identified the Twin 
Cities as among the most racially segregated metro areas in the U.S.

The Foundation's purpose is "to look beyond health care today for ideas that 
create healthier communities tomorrow."  It has recently decided to focus on 
the key social factors that determine health, going beyond genes, lifestyle and 
access to health care.  Ultimately, its goals are to improve community health 
long-term and close the health gap that affects many Minnesotans. Since it was 
established 20 years ago, the Foundation has awarded $20 million.

Joan emphasized the importance of partnerships to achieving the social change 
needed to create healthier communities.   The Foundation provided a grant to 
the Healthcare Education and Industry Partnership (HEIP), a program of the 
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, to support the development of a 
standardized training curriculum for community health workers (CHWs) through 
the state's community college system. The Foundation's successful nomination of 
HEIP under the Local Initiatives Funding Partnership led to a planning grant by 
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  Through these efforts, the Foundation is 
serving as a catalyst to promote the use of CHWs as a strategy for improving 
health care cultural competence, addressing training and Minnesota's health 
care work force shortage and reducing health disparities.

To learn more about the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, 
visit www.bluecrossmn.com/foundation

Sarah Flicker, Director of Research at the Wellesley Institute in Toronto, ON 
Canada titled her talk "Show Me the MoneyWhat Funders Look For."  She began by 
citing the Community Health Scholars Program definition of community-based 
participatory research (CBPR): "A collaborative approach to research that 
equitably involves all partners in the research process and recognizes the 
unique strengths that each brings. CBPR begins with a research topic of 
importance to the community, has the aim of combining knowledge with action and 
achieving social change to improve health outcomes and eliminate health 
disparities."

Wellesley has established a Resource Centre for Community-Based Research (CBR) 
that includes grantmaking, a student practicum placement program, a partnership 
brokering program and a CBR certificate program for those who complete 30 hours 
of training.  Wellesley also cosponsors the Community-Based Participatory 
Research Listserv with CCPH.  To sign up, go to 
http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/cbpr

Sarah noted the common interests of funders and community agencies: Making a 
difference, matching need to dollars and finding the "right match."  In 
awarding grants for community-based research, Wellesley looks for solid 
partnerships seeking to do timely and relevant methodologically rigorous 
research with strong community involvement at all stages of the research 
process (including proposal development) that is attentive to dissemination and 
action and has strong potential to impact programs or policy.

When reviewing proposals, Wellesley peer reviewers look for capability to carry 
out the research, including the qualifications of the research team. This 
includes the credibility of the community partner(s) in the community. 
Reviewers also carefully assess the work plan, schedule and budget.  She 
emphasized the importance of investing time in developing the budget and making 
sure that what's proposed in the narrative is mirrored in the budget.  "We find 
our reviewers can spend a third of their time scrutinizing the budget," she 
said.  "If a proposal involves working in diverse multi-lingual communities, we 
look for interpretation and translation services in the budget, for example. 
We look for attention to barriers to community participation.  Are community 
members compensated adequately?  Are services such as child care and 
transportation provided or paid for?"  She mentioned a proposal she reviewed 
that expected low-income community members to serve for a year on a committee 
that met monthly and only received a $50 honorarium at the end of the year. 
Needless to say, the proposal was not approved for funding.

Reviewers also rate the potential impact of a project.  Is it of sufficient 
scope to offer broad learning?  Does it have a dissemination plan that reaches 
multiple audiences in appropriate formats?  "It's fine to have a plan to submit 
articles for peer-reviewed publications.  But we also look for dissemination 
products and strategies that will reach the intended audience.   A 20-page 
report will not reach many youth, but an interactive website or theatre piece 
might."  Potential impact is also assessed in terms of the link to action. 
Sarah cited The Street Health Report as an example.  Homeless people have 
largely been excluded from government census health surveys, which depend on 
people having an address or telephone number. The 1992 Street Health report was 
a groundbreaking piece of research which documented the health status and the 
barriers faced by homeless people in accessing health care. This report was the 
first of its kind in North America and continues to be cited today. Street 
Health is now conducting research to create the 2006 Street Health Report. The 
project is surveying 350 homeless men and women in Toronto about their health 
status, well-being and access to social services and health care. The resulting 
report will provide a sound evidence-base of knowledge to inform and strengthen 
advocacy efforts.

To learn more, visit www.wellesleyinstitute.com

Cheryl Maurana, Director of the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program (HWPP) 
in Milwaukee, WI, began her presentation with the program's mission: "to 
improve health through community-academic partnerships." Funded by an endowment 
created through the conversion of the state's Blue Cross/Blue Shield from a 
non-profit to a for-profit entity, HWPP is based at the Medical College of 
Wisconsin (MCW) and governed by the MCW Consortium on Public and Community 
Health that is composed of four members selected from nominees by statewide and 
community health care advocacy organizations, four members who represent the 
medical school, and a final member selected by the Insurance Commissioner.

Through a statewide request for proposals process, HWPP makes grants for 
community-academic partnerships that involve MCW faculty, staff and students. 
In the program's first two funding cycles, 49 partnerships received a total of 
about $10 million.  To be competitive for funding, applicants must demonstrate 
adherence to these principles of stewardship:

Collaboration: HWPP supports effective collaboration between community partners 
and MCW partners to capitalize on the strengths of each. Additionally, funded 
projects should build upon Healthiest Wisconsin 2010 (the state health plan), 
and coordinate with other efforts in the community.

Prioritization: HWPP aims to have maximum impact on the health of the people of 
Wisconsin by deliberately focusing on the greatest state and local needs.

Leverage: HWPP seeks opportunities to leverage its funding, with emphases on 
pooling existing resources, attracting additional resources, and encouraging 
sustainability.

Accountability: HWPP funds and the impact of funded projects should be 
measurable and accounted for through effective oversight and rigorous 
evaluation. Accountability should include comprehensive involvement of affected 
communities.

Transformation: HWPP aims to effect systemic change by emphasizing prevention, 
innovation, and capacity-building.

Each project funded by the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program must be 
conducted by a partnership including at least one community organization 
partner and one Medical College of Wisconsin partner.  The partnership 
requirement is based on the premise that community-academic partnerships will 
capitalize on the strengths and unique skills of both the community-based 
organizations and the faculty, staff and students of the MCW in order to 
address a community priority.  Partnerships can be in varying stages of 
development ranging from newly formed partnerships to well established 
partnerships.   Regardless of the stage of development, all partnerships funded 
by HWPP must provide clear evidence of a commitment to and capacity to achieve 
these three elements of the program's Community-Academic Partnership Model:

1) Clear evidence of an understanding of the environment for partnerships.

2) Clear commitment to an agreed upon set of partnership principles, which is 
critical for the long-term success of a partnership. These principles are based 
on the CCPH principles of partnership and include developing common goals, 
building trust and respect, and understanding and emphasizing strengths and 
assets. Open communication and feedback are also critical, as is flexibility to 
evolve, mutual benefit, shared resources and shared credit.

3) Recognize and provide clear commitment to the stages of partnership 
development.  When community organizations and academic institutions build 
relationships, it is important to understand that the partnership development 
goes through several stages. The partners must build relationships, assess 
needs, develop compatible goals, implement programs, provide feedback, and 
assess outcomes.  These stages allow partners to become better acquainted, 
build trust, and develop ways to sustain the partnership and expand progress.

Cheryl has observed a number of pitfalls in applications that have not been 
funded, including:
*A lack of clear project purpose or plan
*Unbalanced or unacceptable leadership
*A history of conflict among key interests
*Unrealistic goals with unattainable timelines
*Hurried or forced relationships
*Ineffective communication
*Overburdened financial commitments
*Ill-distributed responsibility
*Exclusivity/silo-thinking

Cheryl concluded her remarks by emphasizing the role that funders, including 
HWPP, can play in being a partner and change agent in effecting systemic 
changes that can improve health.

To learn more about the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program, visit 
www.mcw.edu/healthierwisconsin

Terri D. Wright, Program Director at the WK Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, 
MI, began her remarks with the founding mission of the WK Kellogg Foundation - 
a mission that has not changed in the 75 years since: "To help people help 
themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to 
improve their quality of life and that of future generations."  Although WK 
Kellogg died in 1951, his presence is still deeply felt in the work of the 
Foundation.  "We in the Foundation are constantly asking ourselves and each 
other, 'what would Mr. Kellogg think?'  It's as if he is in the room with us. 
He was ahead of his time when he established the Foundation in 1930 and his 
vision still is," she said.

Terri went on to discuss how community-campus partnerships and community-based 
participatory research are strategic approaches to operationalizing the 
Foundation's mission.  She challenged the audience to take their partnerships 
to the next level.  "There is adoption of the concept of community-campus 
partnerships, but we are not taking it as far as it needs to go.  There have 
been advances in the academic community, where the paradigm has opened up to 
begin to include CBPR.  For example, we now have a new journal to publish CBPR 
that the Foundation is supporting [see below for details].  What is missing is 
the social action, the policy and systems changes that are needed to achieve 
health and economic equity," she stated.  "We need to reinfuse this social 
justice mission."

She indicated that the Foundation's grant making in this arena has evolved over 
the years based on the lessons it has learned.  "We have found that in many 
cases, when our funding to universities ends, the partnership or program ends. 
We now emphasize the community over the campus. Communities hold the knowledge 
and have an infinite understanding of the issues," she emphasized.  "Health 
requires community leadership and engagement.  These are central to what 
partnerships should be fostering, not by-products."

For more information on the WK Kellogg Foundation, visit www.wkkf.org

For more information on the new journal, Progress in Community Health 
Partnerships: Research, Education and Action, visit
http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/progress_in_community_health_partnerships/

Let me close this report by highlighting the fact that each of the speakers and 
funding agencies represented on the panel has been tremendously supportive of 
CCPH and directly involved in the conference as described below:

Joan identified community site visits, publicized the conference in Minnesota 
and co-authored a poster presentation on the role of community health workers 
in eliminating health disparities.

Sarah served on the conference planning committee, co-facilitated the 
pre-conference institute on developing and sustaining CBPR partnerships, and 
presented a poster on a survey of community-based research in Canada. The 
Wellesley Institute supported the participation of community members from the 
Greater Toronto area at the conference.

Cheryl, founding board chair of CCPH in 1997-1998, supported a Healthier 
Wisconsin Partnership Program thematic poster session.

Terri is our program officer for the WK Kellogg Foundation grant that is 
supporting the participation of community members and community partners at the 
2006 and 2007 CCPH conferences.

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Community-Campus Partnerships for Health promotes health (broadly
defined) through partnerships between communities and higher educational
institutions.  Become a member today at www.ccph.info

Join CCPH for our 10th Anniversary Conference, April 11-14, 2007 in Toronto
The call for proposals will posted this summer at www.ccph.info
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