Drs. Jill Litt at the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center (RMPRC)-Colorado and Susan Zieff at San Francisco State University, part of the Physical Activity Policy Research Network (PAPRN)

Coalitions and Networks for Activity Living

The Coalitions and Networks for Active Living (CANAL) study, led by Drs. Jill Litt at the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center (RMPRC)-Colorado and Susan Zieff at San Francisco State University, is part of the Physical Activity Policy Research Network (PAPRN). The PAPRN is a thematic research network funded since 2004 to study the process, implementation and outcomes of policies related to improving population physical activity.

The purpose of the CANAL project is to understand the structures and processes of public health collaboratives that are key to promoting physical activity through environmental and policy change. We are utilizing a two pronged approach to data collection. To learn about the structures, functions and activities of collaborative groups, we are conducting semi-structured phone interviews with designate leads for these collaboratives. To understand the quality of relationships and cohesion among collaborative partners, we are utilizing the social network analysis tool PARTNER (Program to Analyze, Record, and Track Networks to Enhance Relationship). For this second step, each collaborative coordinator is asked to identify approximately ten partners who have been or could be influential to the work of the group around physical activity policy and environmental change.

One of our goals is to understand the quality of relationships between collaborative partners. PARTNER allows us to broaden our inquiry to include the perspectives of individuals and organizations working on policy and environmental changes to promote physical activity. PARTNER allows us to reach a large number of collaborative members and solicit rich and reliable information about the cohesiveness of physical activity collaboratives. Once data collection is complete, each participating collaborative will receive a copy of its network map along with a feedback sheet highlighting our results. While we are not conducting full network analysis on each of our 50 groups, the trust, value and connectivity scores generated by PARTNER analysis will allow us to further explore the linkage between collaborative effectiveness and policy and environmental change.

More information about the CANAL study can be found at http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/PublicHealth/research/centers/RMPRC/Pages/COPAPRN.aspx.