Table 3 Synthesis of reported impacts (n = 55 impacts reported, 4 studies)
Impact theme/subtheme | Positive (+) or negative (−) impacts |
|---|---|
Individual-level impacts (n = 28) |  |
 Capacity-building (4) (including knowledge development, knowledge of services, programmes or people, skill development, enhanced job performance) | + |
 Cost–benefit ratio (partnership benefits outweigh costs) | + |
 Development of relationships | + |
 Access to information | + |
 Increased service and resource access | + |
 Making a difference (4) (including ability to meaningfully contribute, having a greater impact than working alone, increased utilization of expertise/services, enhanced ability to affect public policy) | + |
 Feeling valued | + |
 Acting as a role model | + |
 Feelings of personal fulfilment | + |
 Personal goal achievement (including goal fulfilment, personal satisfaction, fulfilling personal/spiritual mission, increased job satisfaction, opportunity to give back, having a voice, being part of positive change) | + |
 Enhanced problem-solving (2) | + |
 Enhanced personal profile (2) | + |
 Productivity | + |
 Improved physical and social environment | + |
 Increased opportunities for involvement in community activities, programmes and services (youth and older adults) | + |
 Sustainability | + |
 Youth impact (feeling useful, learning new things, networking, influencing youth program administration, increased employment opportunities, youth scholarships) | + |
Partnership-level impacts (n = 5) |  |
 Perceived impact | + |
 Health status improvements (for teachers/students, increased teacher participation) (2) | + |
 Implementation impacts (subtheme) | + |
 o Increased impact and intervention efficacy | + |
 o Improved implementation uptake | + |
Organizational-/community-level impacts (n = 16) |  |
 Organizational development and personal research skill development | + |
 Acquisitions of new funding | + |
 New collaborations and partnerships | + |
 Policy and other community-level impacts | + |
 Fulfilment of the organizational mission (facilitating the organization’s role, impact, accountability, sustainability) | + |
 Information and resource sharing (sharing trusted information/resources, information sharing/shared resources, cooperation and collaboration, including increased community involvement in planning programmes/services, increased access to useful resources and trusted information, bidirectional information exchange) | + |
 Financial sustainability | + |
 Connections to community (provides a channel to better understand community, better access to community voices to enhance parent organization’s understanding of community) | + |
 Improved quality of life (for children and youth, youth holistic health (spiritual/physical needs met) | + |
 Networking (included increased referral to and participation in programmes/services, improved matching ability (resources to people) with increased awareness of existing community resources. Opportunities to develop new relationships and collaborations that address community needs and improve quality of life) | + |
 Collaborative power, reciprocity (i.e. trust, collective power, shared values, concerns and mutual support by members and constituencies. Access to organizations and members to promote programmes/services, improve effectiveness and promote project completion to improve community quality of life. Reciprocal support among organizations/members to successfully complete projects. Provision of access to information and resources for smaller groups that may not otherwise have access (strength in numbers). Cooperation and collaboration to reduce service duplication, develop economies of scale and improve quality of life) | + |
 Administration and management (improved accountability for evaluation and administration, including policies and procedures development at subcommittee/coalition levels and intra-coalition cooperation. Improvements to meeting effectiveness and efficiency, particularly for discussing community concerns and problem-solving and enhanced by membership diversity, regular meetings and strong attendance.) | + |
 Sustainability (sharing costs/efficiency, decreased employee turnover, positive collaborative outcomes through increased funding and services from awarded grants) | + |
Negative impacts (n = 6) |  |
 Negative emotions (frustration, aggravation) | − |
 Time/resource diversions | − |
 Role conflict (between occupational and partnership work) | − |
 Insufficient influence | − |
 Negative status or profile, by association | − |
 Lack of attribution | − |