Perceived ownership in a community coalition

Coalitions are emerging as a force for change in many communities and offer the opportunity for broad community involvement in the planning and implem entation of needed health promotion and health education services. Perceive d ownership promotes greater participation by the community but efforts to systematically evaluate ownership are lacking. The aim of this study was to determine ownership of a local ElderCARE Coalition's activities and its he alth promotion program, Healthy WAY, as perceived by coalition members. Fif teen of the coalition members returned the questionnaire that included the Community Ownership Scale. As shown by mean scores, the agencies perceived as having the most influence or greatest perceived ownership were the unive rsity college of nursing and the community action programs. Coalition membe rs represented a wide variety of roles and responsibilities as well as leng th of time in the coalition (1 month to 6 years). Responses to open-ended q uestions, analyzed by content analysis, supported the work of the coalition and identified the senior participants in the Healthy WAY program as being "enthusiastic" but also needing to be more "involved." Process measures ar e important indicators of how close coalitions are staying to their grassro ots constituency. Implications for public health nurses include participati ng as partners in community coalitions and assisting coalitions in determin ing their sense of ownership and the need for change.