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Our partnership places emphasis on strengthening collaborations among all partners involved. As such, we have regularly evaluated the partnership process itself to identify strengths, as well as challenges or strains within the partnership and to address identified concerns of the group as needed. Evaluating the partnership also creates a forum for discussion and recommendations about the group's future activities and priorities, hence contributing to more effective collective program planning efforts.

In-depth interviews with Steering Committee members have been conducted to assess the impact of the community based participatory research partnership on the individual partners, the partnership as a whole, and the products produced through the work of the partnership. Interviews covered several topics including: a) progress of the partnership; b) strengths of the partnership and benefits of participating; c) barriers and facilitators to achieving Steering Committee goals; d) relationships and communication among partners; e) the partnership's adherence to norms of operation and principles of community based participatory research; and f) and suggestions for the improvement of project activities and operations.

Steering Committee members also complete a survey questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed Steering Committee members' impressions, attitudes and experiences in a number of areas related to the partnership process.

Results of the in-depth interviews and survey questionnaires are reported to the Steering Committee through written reports and presentations at Steering Committee meeting. Steering Committee members then discuss their interpretation of the results and implications for actions to improve the efforts of the partnership. The results of these assessments of the community based participatory research partnership processes have suggested that a wide range of characteristics of effective groups, such as mutual trust, having common goals or a shared vision, and mechanisms for shared decision making, are critical to the partnership's success.