Department of Human and Organizational Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
Eval Health Prof. 2023 Dec;46(4):334-343. doi: 10.1177/01632787231195642. Epub 2023 Aug 18.
Cancer health disparities persist across the cancer care continuum despite decades of effort to eliminate them. Among the strategies currently used to address these disparities are multi-institution research initiatives that engage multiple stakeholders and change efforts. Endemic to the theory of change of such programs is the idea that collaboration-across institutions, research disciplines, and academic ranks-is necessary to improve outcomes. Despite this emphasis on collaboration, however, it is not often a focus of evaluation for these programs and others like them. In this paper we describe a method for evaluating collaboration within the Meharry-Vanderbilt-Tennessee State University Cancer Partnership using network analysis. Specifically, we used network analysis of co-authorship on academic publications to visualize the growth and patterns of scientific collaboration across partnership institutions, research disciplines, and academic ranks over time. We presented the results of the network analysis to internal and external advisory groups, creating the opportunity to discuss partnership collaboration, celebrate successes, and identify opportunities for improvement. We propose that basic network analysis of existing data along with network visualizations can foster conversation and feedback and are simple and effective ways to evaluate collaboration initiatives.
尽管数十年来一直在努力消除癌症护理连续体中的健康差距，但癌症健康差距仍然存在。目前用于解决这些差距的策略包括涉及多个利益相关者和变革努力的多机构研究计划。这些计划变革理论的核心是，跨机构、研究学科和学术级别进行合作对于改善结果是必要的。然而，尽管如此，对于这些计划和其他类似计划来说，合作通常并不是评估的重点。在本文中，我们描述了一种使用网络分析评估默哈瑞-范德比尔特-田纳西州立大学癌症伙伴关系内部合作的方法。具体来说，我们使用合著者的网络分析来可视化跨合作机构、研究学科和学术级别的科学合作随时间的增长和模式。我们向内部和外部咨询小组展示了网络分析的结果，为讨论伙伴关系合作、庆祝成功和确定改进机会创造了机会。我们提出，对现有数据进行基本的网络分析以及网络可视化可以促进对话和反馈，并且是评估合作计划的简单有效的方法。
