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A case study of a community-university multidisciplinary partnership approach to increasing physical activity participation among people with spinal cord injury

  • Case Study
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Translational Behavioral Medicine

ABSTRACT

Over the past decade, increasing emphasis has been placed on the importance of health behavior change research being conducted in partnership with the beneficiaries of the intended research outcomes. Although such an approach should enhance the relevance of the research and the uptake of findings, it raises challenges regarding how best to cultivate and sustain meaningful partnerships to accomplish these goals. In this paper, we provide a case study of SCI Action Canada—a multidisciplinary team partnership approach to increasing physical activity among adults with spinal cord injuries. The research and knowledge mobilization phases are described. In addition, preliminary indicators of partnership success and key informant interviews are presented to highlight the challenges and opportunities associated with using a community-university partnership approach to influence positive health behavior change.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by a Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada. We extend our appreciation to Adrienne Sinden for her assistance with the preparation of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Ivor Wynne Centre, East Building, Rm E212, 1280 Main St. W., Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada

    Kathleen A Martin Ginis PhD & Kelly Arbour-Nicitopoulos PhD

  2. School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Amy Latimer-Cheung PhD & Heather Gainforth MSc

  3. Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Sonya Corkum MBA

  4. SCI Action Canada, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Spero Ginis BPE, BEd

  5. Canadian Paraplegic Association Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Peter Anathasopoulos Manager, SCI Network & Services

Authors
  1. Kathleen A Martin Ginis PhD
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  2. Amy Latimer-Cheung PhD
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  3. Sonya Corkum MBA
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  4. Spero Ginis BPE, BEd
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  5. Peter Anathasopoulos Manager, SCI Network & Services
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  6. Kelly Arbour-Nicitopoulos PhD
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  7. Heather Gainforth MSc
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kathleen A Martin Ginis PhD.

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Implications

Practice: Multidisciplinary, community-university partnerships can be highly effective in translational behavioral medicine when they are established at the project planning stage and fostered throughout the research production and translation/mobilization stages.

Policy: Resources should be directed towards cultivating community-university partnerships in order to optimize the development and implementation of evidence-based tools and services.

Research: Multidisciplinary, community-university partnerships that systematically link research activities with the translation of new knowledge into products and services can be used to address complex problems in behavioral medicine, such as physical inactivity among persons with disabilities.

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Ginis, K.A.M., Latimer-Cheung, A., Corkum, S. et al. A case study of a community-university multidisciplinary partnership approach to increasing physical activity participation among people with spinal cord injury. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 2, 516–522 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-012-0157-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-012-0157-0

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