Despite strong commitment to partnerships as a strategy for co-creation and coherence in efforts to address the social determinants of health, we miss systematic knowledge about how partnerships function to promote public health.
In 2014, the Danish Government launched seven national goals for public health with the policy "Healthier Life for All”. Together with the seven national goals for public health, the Government launched a partnership strategy which was accompanied by 120 million kroner to support the establishment of partnerships.
38 partnerships received funding. This constitutes the biggest investment in partnership-based interventions in public health in Denmark. The National Institute of Public Health in collaboration with Copenhagen Business School evaluates the partnership strategy.
Purpose
The main objective of the study is to investigate how and to what extent the 38 partnerships, and the overall partnership strategy, support the achievement of the seven national goals for public health. The evaluation will seek to identify the relevant mechanisms and contexts that enable the partnership strategy to work, and assess the potentials and pitfalls more generally related to partnerships as a strategy in the field of public health.
Methods
The study is based on realistic evaluation design.
The empirical material consists of survey data and key documents from all 38 partnerships. In addition, we have selected 10 partnerships based on several variables, including: variation in relation to public health goals, geographic location, size, and sectoral affiliation of partner organizations. The 10 partnerships function as cases in a qualitative study, which will contribute nuanced knowledge regarding the organizational processes of partnership functioning.
Project period
2015-2018.
Collaboration and fund providers
The study is being carried out in collaboration with associate professor Holger Højlund from the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy at Copenhagen Business School.
The evaluation is funded by the Ministry of Health.