ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the applicability of the concepts "policy cluster," "collaborative research," "knowledge utilization," and "theory of action" in the context of a maternal and child health program in the Puerto Rican community of Hartford, Connecticut. This program began with a policy cluster consisting of local and state representatives working together to plan a local program. The chapter describes the program, the history of shifts in the program, policy clusters, and research strategies. The program began with ethnographic interviewing to obtain women's perspectives on pregnancy, prenatal care, the cuarentena, pregnancy management, and the role of the comadrona. The Comadrona Program was based on the initial proposition that social supports enhance the likelihood of early entry to prenatal care. Program administration finally summarized the situation by asserting the sociological model over the medical/epidemiological model. The chapter concludes with implications for collaborative research in intervention programs.
