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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.