Sustainability of Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program

Abstract

ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: SUSTAINABILITY OF HEALTHY TOMORROWS PARTNERSHIP FOR

CHILDREN PROGRAM

Latricia C. Robertson

Doctor of Philosophy, 2005

Dissertation directed by: Associate Professor Sharon M. Desmond

Department of Public

and Community Health

The purpose of this study was to determine sustainability, the main reason(s) for sustainability, and the relationship between the amount of annual matching funds (as well as the extent of overmatch) and sustainability of the Healthy Tomorrows Partnership for Children Program (HTPCP) projects. In addition, the development of a predictive sustainability model was proposed.

Ninety-four HTPCP projects received federal funding from 1989 through 1997. Five of these projects participated in the pilot-test for this study. The remaining 89 project directors (PDs) were mailed the Level of Institutionalization (LoIn) Instrument, developed by Goodman, et al. (1993), to measure institutionalization/sustainability in preventive health programs.

Eighty-one PDs responded to the HTPCP survey questionnaire (91% response rate). Project directors were predominately female (80%) and had up to eight years of formal education after high school (59%). Thirty-five percent of the PDs were pediatricians, and their ages ranged from 32 - 80 years of age.

Sustainability of the HTPCP projects was demonstrated in this study. Another major finding was that a HTPCP project with a pediatrician PD (as opposed to all other disciplines) was less likely to have written and operationalized program objectives.