Implementing capacity-building initiatives addressing health equity through community-academic partnerships: A qualitative study

Background Capacity-building is a common goal of community-academic partnerships, but there are literature gaps in the components of capacity-building efforts that support success and how implementation science can contribute to these efforts. We studied the core components and implementation determinants of capacity-building initiatives carried out through Chicagoland CEAL community-academic partnerships. Methods We conducted seven focus group discussions with 26 community organization representatives and researchers exploring six capacity-building initiatives. We used Juckett et al.'s typology to summarize the initiatives' core components and grouped emerging themes on implementation determinants according to the domains and constructs of the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) implementation science framework. Results The core components of the capacity-building initiatives varied widely in their use of didactic, practical application, knowledge-sharing, and technical assistance activities, but the implementation barriers and facilitators showed greater consistency. Bridging factors: Findings demonstrated the importance of developing mutually beneficial, trusting relationships among community-academic partners with clear goals. Innovation factors: Tailoring capacity-building activities to populations' needs and adapting over time were notable facilitators. Outer context: Flexible funding supported implementation, while social climate and local infrastructure limitations were barriers. Inner context: Barriers included competing priorities, space limitations, and staff availability. Conclusions Our findings on core components, barriers, and facilitators can promote the equitable implementation of capacity-building initiatives carried out by community-academic partnerships. Our study addresses calls to place greater emphasis on health equity and attention to context in the field of implementation science. Our findings further strengthen the literature on the EPIS framework through practical application.