Effective and meaningful collaboration to improve community health

Abstract

This research project set out to identify those factors that are likely to lead to effective and meaningful collaboration among a broad range of stakeholders wishing to collaborate to improve health in rural communities. By studying two different collaborative efforts in rural Alaska that have succeeded in collaboration but have also faced many challenges, benefits of collaboration, challenges to collaboration, factors that contribute to benefits and challenges of collaboration, and important areas for development in collaboration were identified. Through the research study and a literature review conducted within the context of the researcher's professional experience, frameworks and tools were identified that can be used to help facilitate and support collaboration that is effective and meaningful in a community.