Academic Service Partnerships: What do we learn from around the globe? A systematic literature review

Background Academic Service Partnerships (ASPs) are structural linkages between universities and service entities that aim to share vision and collaboration, thereby improving patient care quality and encouraging innovation. Purpose To identify structured ASPs in nursing worldwide and to describe their characteristics. Method Systematic literature review of PubMed-, CINAHL-, PsycINFO-, and Embase- listed studies published up to August 31, 2010. ASPs were described in view of a predefined set of criteria. Results A total of 114 articles describing 119 ASPs were included. Of these, 85% were located in North America. The median duration of ASPs was 6 years (interquartile range, 2–6). The majority focused on education (86%) and clinical practice (50%). Community health facilities (57%) and hospitals (40%) were prime settings. Twenty-two percent of ASPs were defined by contracts, 3% were governed by bylaws, and 66% were part of strategic plans (28%). Funding sources were mentioned in 76%. However, although 66% of ASPs have been evaluated, the evaluations are generally neither consistent nor reliable. Conclusions ASPs show variability in setup, and their development seems to be fueled by policy reports.