The Evolution of Trust Within a Global Health Partnership With the Private Sector: An Inductive Framework

Background: Public-private partnerships (PPPs) in global health are increasingly common to support sustainable development and strengthen health systems in low-and middle-income countries. Since the release of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 culminating in a discrete goal to revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development, public health scholars have sought to understand what makes PPPs successful in different contexts. While trust has long been identified as a key component of successful strategic alliances in the private sector, less is known about how trust emerges between public-and private-sector partners, particularly in global health. Therefore, we investigated how trust between partners evolved in the context of Project Last Mile (PLM), a global health partnership that translates the business acumen of The Coca-Cola Company to strengthen public health systems across Africa. Methods: This study draws upon secondary analysis of qualitative data generated as part of the longitudinal, mixed methods evaluation of PLM across country settings. Seventy-seven interviews with a purposeful sample of key stakeholders were conducted in Mozambique, South Africa and eSwatini between August 2016 and July 2018. Trained qualitative interviewers followed a standard discussion guide, and audio-recorded interviews with participants' consent. In this secondary analysis, we analyzed qualitative data to understand how trust between partners was cultivated across settings. Results: We drew upon stakeholder experiences to inform an inductive framework for how trust develops over time. Our analysis revealed five domains that were foundational to building trust: (1) reputational context, (2) team composition, (3) tangible outputs, (4) shared values, and (5) effective communication. Conclusion: The framework may be useful for private and public sector entities seeking to establish and sustain trust within their global health partnerships. Copyright: (c) 2021 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Citation: Christie S, Chahine T, Curry LA, Cherlin E, Linnander EL. The evolution of trust within a global health partnership with the private sector: an inductive framework. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2021;x(x):x-x. doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2021. 14

Automated summary

This study investigates how trust evolves between partners in the context of the Project Last Mile (PLM) global health partnership. Through analysis of stakeholder experiences, a framework was developed outlining five key domains foundational to building trust: reputational context, team composition, tangible outputs, shared values, and effective communication. The findings may be useful for private and public sector entities aiming to establish and maintain trust within global health partnerships.