What makes an effective coalition? Coalition building to effect policy change has a long history in the U.S.; however, it is a relatively new area of interest to public health researchers. Little is known about the process of creating coalition structures to effect change in public health policy. Seven components of coalition building were identified for this study including: 1) leadership, 2) mission goals and strategies, 3) staffing, 4) gaining visibility, 5) involving youth, 6) securing resources, and 7) building membership. Data were gathered during four years of evaluation of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Reducing Underage Drinking through Coalitions (RUDC) project. During evaluation site visits conducted in the year 2000, we asked 107 members of the twelve RUD coalitions to discuss and rank in order of importance the seven components of coalition building.
Participants of this session will be given a brief overview of the basic components of coalition building and a summary of the findings of this evaluation effort. By the end of the session, they will be able to identify which components were seen by RUD coalition members as most critical to creating an effective coalition, and how different groups (for example, youth versus adults) vary in their views of these components. We will discuss possible reasons for these variations and the importance of particular components in coalition building.
Learning Objectives: 1) Participants of this session will be given a brief overview of the basic components of coalition building and a summary of the findings of this evaluation effort. 2) They will be able to identify which components were seen by Reducing Underage Drinking through Coalition members as most critical to creating an effective coalition. 3) They will see how different groups (for example, youth versus adults) vary in their views of these components. 4) Possible reasons for these variations and the importance of particular components in coalition building will be discussed.
Keywords: Adolescent Health, Coalition
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has funded the Reducing Underage Drinking through Coalitions Project.
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.