JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Partnerships between academic institutions and public care agencies (PAPs) can promote effective policymaking and care delivery. Public care agencies are often engaged in PAPs for evidence-informed policymaking in healthcare. Previous research has reported essential partnership contextual factors and mechanisms that promote evidence-based policymaking and practice in healthcare. However, the studies have not yet informed whether public care agency leaders’ and academic researchers’ perception of partnership purpose formulation and coalition building evolves through PAP life cycle and whether public care agency leaders’ use of research evidence differs through life cycle stages.

Objective:

Our pilot study focused on PAPs designed to improve youth mental health and wellbeing outcomes. We aimed to identify public care agency leaders’ and academic researchers’ perception of PAP purpose formulation (structure, goals, primary function, and agenda setting process) and coalition building (mutual benefits, trust, convener’s role, member role clarity, and conflict management) by PAP life cycle stage and examine whether public care agency leaders’ use of research evidence differs by the perception of PAP purpose formulation and coalition building through PAP life cycle.

Methods:

Online survey of Public-Academic Partnership Experience was conducted through recruiting academic researchers (n=40) and public care agency leaders (n=26) who were engaged in PAPs for the past 10 years. Public care agency leaders additionally participated in the survey of the Structured Interview for Evidence Use (SIEU) scale (n=48).

Results:

The majority of public care agency leaders and academic researchers in PAPs formed, matured, and sustained perceived their PAP having purpose formulation context well aligned with their organizational purpose formulation context, pursuing mutual benefits, having leadership representation and role clarity, having a higher level of trust, and knowing how to handle conflicts. The majority of PAPs across all life cycle stages crystallized another issue to focus, but not all PAPs with issue crystallization had purpose reformulation. Public care agency leaders who trusted academic researchers in their PAP and perceived their PAP’s agenda setting process as perfectly driven by public care agency leaders had greater use of research evidence. Public care agency leaders in PAPs that had gone through new issue crystallization also showed greater use of research evidence compared to those that had not.

Conclusions:

To promote public care agency leaders’ use of research evidence, focusing on developing and trusting partnership, paying attention to public care agency leaders’ needs in agenda setting, and continuously crystallizing PAP issues are important. Clinical Trial: Not applicable