Cross-Sector Collaboration in the High-Poverty Setting: Qualitative Results from a Community-Based Diabetes Intervention.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the motivations of stakeholders from diverse sectors who engaged in cross-sector collaboration with an academic medical center.

DATA SOURCE: Primary qualitative data (2014-2015) were collected from 22 organizations involved in a cross-sector diabetes intervention on the South Side of Chicago.

STUDY DESIGN: In-depth, semistructured interviews; participants included leaders from all stakeholder organization types (e.g., businesses, community development, faith-based) involved in the intervention.

DATA COLLECTION METHODS: Data were transcribed verbatim from audio and video recordings. Analysis was conducted using the constant comparison method, derived from grounded theory.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: All stakeholders described collaboration as an opportunity to promote community health in vulnerable populations. Among diverse motivations across organization types, stakeholders described collaboration as an opportunity for: financial support, brand enhancement, access to specialized skills or knowledge, professional networking, and health care system involvement in community-based efforts. Based on our findings, we propose a framework for implementing a working knowledge of stakeholder motivations to facilitate effective cross-sector collaboration.

CONCLUSIONS: We identified several factors that motivated collaboration across diverse sectors with health care systems to promote health in a high-poverty, urban setting. Understanding these motivations will be foundational to optimizing meaningful cross-sector collaboration and improving diabetes outcomes in the nation's most vulnerable communities.