Community coalition‐driven interventions to reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic minority populations

Background Racial and ethnic disparities in health status are pervasive at all stages of the life cycle. One approach to reducing health disparities involves mobilizing community coalitions that include representatives of target populations to plan and implement interventions for community level change. A systematic examination of coalition‐led interventions is needed to inform decision making about the use of community coalition models. Objectives To assess effects of community coalition‐driven interventions in improving health status or reducing health disparities among racial and ethnic minority populations. Search methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PsycINFO, Social Science Citation Index, Dissertation s, System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe (SIGLE) (from January 1990 through September 30, 2013), and Global Health Library (from January 1990 through March 31, 2014). Selection criteria Cluster‐randomized controlled trials, randomized controlled trials, quasi‐experimental designs, controlled before‐after studies, interrupted time series studies, and prospective controlled cohort studies. Only studies of community coalitions with at least one racial or ethnic minority group representing the target population and at least two community public or private organizations are included. Major outcomes of interest are direct measures of health status, as well as lifestyle factors when evidence indicates that these have an effect on the direct measures performed. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed risk of bias for each study. Main results Fifty‐eight community coalition‐driven intervention studies were included. No study was considered to be at low risk of bias. Behavioral change outcomes and health status change outcomes were analyzed separately. Outcomes are grouped by intervention type. Pooled effects across intervention types are not presented because the diverse community coalition‐led intervention studies did not examine the same constructs or relationships, and they used dissimilar methodological designs. Broad‐scale community system level change strategies led to little or no difference in measures of health behavior or health status (very low‐certainty evidence). Broad health and social care system level strategies leds to small beneficial changes in measures of h