Table 3.

Description of final themes

Themes/Categories	Description	Dimensions, examples
Context	Aspects of the context that play a crucial role in the emergence of the problem, the availability of opportunities and resources from which the partnership form and develop, as well as in framing processes	Aspects of context: Social context Political context Historical context Economical context
Problem	A concerning and pre‐existing health or social problem that is experienced by the community, gives birth to and justifies the partnership	Range of problems: General health status Specific health condition or disease Problematic health behaviors Problematic health determinants or exposure
Partnership	A formal partnership between academic and community partners that plays a central and catalytic role in the mobilization process, often with the addition of other partners and the community at large in the action phase	Types of partners: a researcher or a group of researchers; a pre‐existing community organization; a community–academic research organization; a coalition of organizations; a local health department; a group of grassroots community members.
Cause	Programmatic goal of a partnership, enclosing a representation of the problem, strategically and collaboratively defined to reach and mobilize community members	Range of causes: To reduce the incidence or prevalence of a specific disease or health condition; To act on an health‐deleterious situation; To promote health generally
Collective action strategy	A general line of action followed by the partnership to accomplish or achieve its goal	Levels of collective action: Systemic/environmental: To address social, physical, institutional, and political determinants of health or specific health conditions; Individual: To address individual determinants of health or health conditions (behaviors, knowledge, beliefs)
Framing processes	Collaborative and strategic interpretative construction processes that define the cause of the partnership, raise awareness of the cause in the community, and define an action to address the problem	Roles of the framing process: Define the cause of the partnership Raise awareness of the cause Define a collective action Health as a complex issue; Health as a political issue; Health as a structural issue; Health as a social/environmental justice issue
Opportunities	Temporal and contextual circumstances that have prompted the partnership's formation and building	Types of opportunities: Internal opportunities Former relationships or collaboration between the partners; External opportunities: Funding opportunities
Resources	Assets acquired and used by the partnership to carry out its function	Types of resources: Intangible resources Expert, technical, professional skills, and knowledge; Research conducted by the partnership and study results; Previous experience of the problem, the community and the local context; Pre‐existing networks and relationships; Credibility of partners; Local assets of the community; Tangible resources Funding
System an community changes	As a direct outcome of the partnership's work, changes in the social, policy, and physical environments of the community	Types of system/environmental changes: Social changes, including capacity building and empowerment Physical environment changes Policy changes
Stage 1	Creation of the partnership, with the specific aim of working on a pre‐existing health or social issue. Sometime involves research to document the issue. Implies building on tangible and intangible resources, internal and external opportunities provided by the context.
Stage 2	Definition of the cause and development of a collective action strategy in view of particular objectives (system changes) and according to research results. Framing processes to define the cause, raise awareness of the cause in the general population, and mobilize further partners and community members in defining or validating an acceptable collective action, taking into account the particular context of the community. Sometime involves research to guide the action.
Stage 3	Implementation of the collective action strategy, with the help of partners for action, in view of objectives and targeted system changes.
Stage 4	Continuity of the partnership's action after it has achieved its goal or after the formal end of the partnership (forming a new incorporated organization, incorporating the partnership's priority activities into partner organizations' program, scaling up the implemented program to other levels of action with different partners, furthering participation of the community partners in similar initiatives at higher levels of action).