New publication: capacity building in DIP-IN

Is DIP‑IN making an impact? To answer this question, we look not only at DIP‑IN’s health improvement goals but also at how the initiative builds capacity—strengthening the skills, resources, and systems needed to achieve and sustain long-term health aims. Capacity building grows out of strong partnerships and can occur at individual, organizational, and community levels.

We’re excited to share a new publication that explores capacity building within DIP‑IN, based on interviews with 28 partners, including resident leaders. In January, our study, "Being part of change: partner perspectives on capacity building in a long-term community-engaged health equity initiative," was published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Public Health.

Along with highlighting what we learned about DIP‑IN, the study offers valuable insights for other communities engaged in similar public health partnerships. We’ve included several key findings below.

What did we learn about capacity building in DIP-IN?

Overall, we found that DIP‑IN is building capacity for long‑term health equity in many interconnected ways. Every partner described their own meaningful “part of change” within the project—illustrating how individual contributions collectively strengthen the broader system. Key findings:

• Partners across roles reported strengthened capacity, including enhanced leadership, professional development, improved data practices, the development of staffing structures, and increased investment in community health.
• DIP-IN consistently upheld its principles for partnering with communities – such as respect, transparency, valuing resident expertise, and long-term commitment. This built a strong foundation of trust that supported health improvement and capacity building aims. Many resident leaders noted that the level of trust developed with DIP-IN was the greatest they had experienced with any group.
• Resident steering committees are a vital structure within DIP-IN's community engagement approach. Residents truly drive the decisions about how to spend funds for health improvement in their communities – an uncommon degree of deferral to the community compared to other initiatives.
• Collaboration among partners is growing, strengthening local networks and relationships.
• Gaining and sustaining momentum took time. Because initiatives like DIP-IN can sometimes move at a slower pace, some partners shared that this rhythm made it harder to advance project goals as quickly as hoped.