Characteristics and Practices Within Research Partnerships for Health and Social Equity.
Elizabeth Dickson, Maya Magarati, Blake Boursaw and 4 others
PMID 31609899WHAT IT FOUND
Established research partnerships shared more of their budget with community groups and used formal community approvals more often than new partnerships.
Nurse scientists starting community projects should plan for these structural supports early rather than waiting for long-term relationships to form.
Key findings
01Partnerships working on multiple projects shared a larger percentage of their budget with the community than did early-stage or single-project partnerships.
02Early-stage partnerships relied more on individual approvals for community participation, while established multiple-project partnerships relied more on structural approval by community entities.
03Only 3% of the projects were initiated by community partners, and fewer than half had formal agreements for the partnership.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The data is a cross-sectional snapshot, so it cannot prove that becoming an established partnership causes better practices; it only shows an association. Responses came only from Principal Investigators, which may introduce social desirability bias. Partnerships that were temporarily unfunded or funded by foundations were excluded, potentially missing different types of community engagement. PIs might not be aware of prior collaborations among their community partners, leading to misclassification of partnership stages.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that new partnerships are inherently less equitable by nature. The study shows a correlation between duration and practice, but it does not prove that time alone fixes structural inequities; active planning for budget sharing and formal agreements is required from the start.