Partnership analysis tools

• The VicHealth Partnerships Analysis Tool

  The VicHealth Partnerships Analysis Tool (VicHealth, 2011) is a resource for organisations who are establishing, developing and/or maintaining a partnership in health promotion. It helps organisations establish or review the purpose of the partnership, provides resources for partnership mapping and provides a checklist of questions to assess the partnership. The checklist is coded with a scoring system to help you understand more about areas for improvement. The Partnership Assessment tool measures the following domains:

  1. Determining the need for the partnership
  2. Choosing partners
  3. Making sure partnerships work
  4. Planning collaborative action
  5. Implementing collaborative action
  6. Minimising the barriers to partnership
  7. Reflecting on and continuing the partnership.

  Find out more about the VicHealth partnerships analysis tool

• The Collaboration Health Assessment Tool (CHAT)

  The CHAT Tool (Noone et al, 2017) is an evidence-based tool that outlines the following domains for partnership and collaborations consolidated into four structural components and four process components. The dimensions of CHAT are:

  Structural

  • Shared goal
  • Shared resources
  • Shared authority
  • Shared accountability

  Process

  • Whole-system engagement
  • Communication flows
  • Adaptive aapacity
  • Holding/authorising environment

  Find out more about the CHAT

• The New York Partnership Self-Assessment Tool

  The New York Partnership Self-Assessment Tool (CACSH, 2002) contains eleven themed sections with a number of survey questions relating to each domain. It is possible to pick and choose the domains that you would most like to measure. These domains are:

  1. Synergy - questions that relate to the abilities of the partnership to set goals, problem solve etc (9 questions)
  2. Leadership - Formal or informal leadership, includes questions about motivation, vision, conflict resolution etc (11 questions)
  3. Efficiency - questions relating to the use of financial resources and time (3 questions)
  4. Administration and management - questions about communications, meetings, agendas etc (9 questions)
  5. Non-financial resources - questions about skills, influence, credibility etc (6 questions)
  6. Financial and other capital resources - questions about money, space and equipment (3 questions)
  7. Decision making - questions about decision making in terms of comfort, support and inclusion (3 questions)
  8. Benefits of participation - questions about receipt of benefits from the partnership in terms of impact, public profile, contributions etc (11 questions)
  9. Drawbacks of participation - questions about any drawbacks including time or resource diversion, conflicts of time, lack of work acknowledgments etc (6 questions)
  10. Comparing benefits and drawbacks of Participating in the partnership - a question about whether the benefits of the partnership outweigh the drawbacks (1 question)
  11. Satisfaction with participation - questions about satisfaction with the partnership (5 questions).

  Find out more about the New York Partnership Self-Assessment Questionnaire.

Other resources

For additional resources and guidance on partnership work the following resources may be useful.

• The VCOSS Partnership Practice Guide

  For staff or organisations commencing a partnership in the health, housing, and community services sector and government departments (VCOSS, 2018).

• The Partnering Toolbook: An Essential Guide to Cross Sector Partnering

  This is a Canadian Guide developed by the Partnering Initiative, which contains useful information on various aspects of partnering including obstacles to partnering and strategies to overcome these obstacles (The Partnering Initiative, 2011).

• Partnership Essentials

  This guide contains a number of tools for developing effective partnerships as well as six (6) activities for successful community partnership (Health Nexus, 2018).