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Narrowing the gap between academic professional wisdom and community lay knowledge: perceptions from partnerships
W El Ansari1, C J Phillips, A B Zwi
1Public and Community Health Department, School of Health Care, Oxford Brookes University, UK. walid.ansari@brookes.ac.uk
Public Health
|June 26, 2002
Summary
Community partnerships in health are complex. While communities value professional expertise, healthcare professionals underestimate community skills, hindering effective collaboration and requiring capacity-building strategies.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Health Systems Research
- Community Engagement
Background:
- Community partnerships (CPs) are crucial for health initiatives but present implementation challenges.
- Effective collaboration requires understanding and valuing diverse stakeholder skills.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare healthcare professionals' and community members' perceptions of each other's skills within South African CPs.
- To identify disparities in perceived expertise across five domains of partnership working.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative analysis of data from five community partnerships in South Africa.
- Examination of perceptions across educational competencies, partnership fostering, community involvement, change agency, and management capacities.
Main Results:
- Community members recognized and valued the expertise of healthcare professionals, particularly in management and change processes.
- Healthcare professionals expressed caution regarding community members' skills across all examined domains.
- A significant gap exists in professionals' appreciation of community members' indigenous skills and capabilities.
Conclusions:
- Healthcare professionals must increase their valuation of community partners' inherent skills for successful joint working.
- Future CP models should integrate capacity building, skills transfer, and empowerment strategies.
- Addressing perception gaps is vital for strengthening community-health professional collaborations.