2What Your Colleagues Say about TB 

Partnerships 

Discussions	held	with	TB	controllers	and	program	staff	while	developing	this	guide	 

revealed	the	following:	 

•	 TB	controllers	and	program	staff	working	 

in	productive	partnerships	felt	strongly	 

about	having	the	opportunity	to	share	 

their	enthusiasm	and	lessons	learned. 

•	 TB	controllers	and	program	staff	wanted	 

to	learn	about	partnering	through	the	 

perspectives	and	experiences	of	their	 

colleagues	working	in	TB	partnerships.	 

As	a	result,	this	chapter	was	created	to	 

provide	TB	controllers	and	program	staff,	as	 

well	as	their	partners,	with	the	opportunity	 

to	speak	to	you	in	their	own	words.	 

TB Partnership Benefits 

•	 “Just	as	TB	knows	few	boundaries,	we	 

must	not	be	constrained	in	reaching	 

Putting Words into Action 

What “We have to look at our systems. 

they We need to learn to embrace 

said new paradigms and get out of the 

‘tuberculosis silo’ and the standalone care systems.“ 

What “We had a population of injection 

they drug users suspected to be at 

did very high risk for Hepatitis C, 

HIV, and TB. We joined forces. 

One group made their outreach 

workers available; another 

contributed 500 HIV tests, another 

Hepatitis C tests and TB skin 

tests. We got legislation passed 

and the funding we needed to 

focus on prevention of all three 

diseases.” (TB controller, lowincidence Southwestern state) 

across	organizational,	cultural,	and	other	boundaries	to	work	with	others	who	 

are	affected	by	TB.	All	partners	are	valuable	partners,	no	matter	how	small	their	 

contributions,	because	it	is	only	the	accumulation	of	many	efforts	in	many	places	 

that	will	end	this	ancient	scourge.”	(Director, national advocacy organization for the 

homeless)	 

•	 “The	best	thing	is	when	you	see	partners	 

owning	the	issues.	Instead	of	looking	 

to	you	for	support,	they	are	developing	 

the	programs	and	getting	the	grants.”	 

(TB program staff, sparsely populated lowincidence Midwestern state)	 

•	 “Initially,	I	joined	the	TB	partnership	 

because	I	was	tired	of	the	big	cities	 

getting	all	the	resources.	I	really	wanted	 

TB Partnership Benefits 

“We were always too busy to do much about 

TB. The state convinced us a partnership 

would help. First, we tackled how to work 

more efficiently so we could have more time. 

Training physicians to complete more of the 

initial screening process was the key. That 

led to successfully competing for a private 

foundation grant to fund education and 

targeted testing in our highest-risk population.” 

(Rural public health nurse, sparsely populated 

low-incidence Western state) 

Forging Partnerships to Eliminate Tuberculosis: A Guide and Toolkit  

Chapter : What Your Colleagues Say About TB Partnerships 
to	protect	my	program.	I	still	do,	but	I	think	the	people	are	good	and	I	have	learned	 

a	lot.	I	do	not	feel	so	isolated.	I	get	a	chance	to	work	with	a	lot	of	other	TB	people	 

facing	the	same	problems.” (Rural public health nurse, sparsely populated low-incidence 

Western state) 

•	 “Partnerships	offer	access	to	resources.	We	have	found	that	a	lot	of	what	we	need,	 

we	can	get	in-kind	from	each	other.	Some	people	have	access	to	printing,	others	 

can	share	outreach	workers,	and	others	provide	technical	assistance.”	(TB controller, 

sparsely populated low-incidence Southwestern state)	 

Things to Keep in Mind 

•	 “Show	your	partners	all	of	the	data	 

so	they	know	what	you	know.	Make	 

sure	your	goals	are	data-driven	and	 

appropriate.	Then,	stay	focused	on	your	 

goals	over	time.” (TB controller, sparsely 

populated Midwestern low-incidence state)	 

•	 “People	can	be	very	passionate	about	 

TB,	but	not	everyone	feels	comfortable	 

being	a	leader	or	speaking	up	in	a	group,	 

so	you	have	to	build	an	environment	 

Things to Keep In Mind 

“We needed to build awareness among 

providers in our town. I started with my 

personal physician and the nurses I knew. 

Letters don’t cut it in our area. You have 

to show up on their doorsteps. Make an 

appointment and go see them. Talk with them. 

You have to listen and you have to make your 

case.” (Rural public health nurse in sparsely 

populated low-incidence state with rapidly 

increasing at-risk population) 

where	people	feel	comfortable	sharing	their	views.”	(TB controller, sparsely populated 

Midwestern low-incidence state) 

•	 “The	key	is	making	it	easy	for	people	to	participate.	Make	it	clear	what	you	are	 

asking	of	them	and	then	enable	them	to	participate.	If	you	want	community	leaders	 

from	your	at-risk	groups	involved,	you	cannot	meet	during	their	work	hours.	You	 

have	to	be	willing	to	meet	when	they	can.”	(TB program staff, sparsely populated lowincidence state)	 

Relationship Building: Lessons Learned 

•	 “We	have	to	get	over	the	fear	factor	and	develop	the	skills	and	confidence	to	get	 

engaged	with	new	partners.	We	have	to	identify	the	leaders	in	high-risk	populations	 

that	are	not	associated	with	501(c)(3)	organizations.	We	have	to	work	with	faithbased	organizations	in	every	community.	We	have	to	get	out	there	and	be	creative	 

and	be	inclusive.”	(TB controller, Southern state) 

•	 “The	key	for	us	was	creating	working	groups	that	are	very	project	oriented.	We	were	 

successful	because	we	were	moving	ahead	and	building	on	our	successes	over	time.	 

We	solved	problems	without	being	too	formal	about	it.”	(TB controller, low-incidence 

Southwestern state) 

 Forging Partnerships to Eliminate Tuberculosis: A Guide and Toolkit 

Chapter : What Your Colleagues Say About TB Partnerships 
• “Trust	the	process.	Do	not	try	to	control	 

everything	and	do	not	think	that	you	 

know	all	the	answers	in	advance.	Instead,	 

try	to	create	guiding	principles	and	 

shared	values.	Have	a	general	sense	of	 

where	you	need	to	go	and	realize	that	 

you	too	will	learn	along	the	way.”		 

(TB controller, sparsely populated lowincidence Southwestern state) 

Lessons Learned 

“Looking back, I would do a lot of things 

differently next time. We did not prepare like 

we should have, but we had the right people 

on board, the folks from our target audience. 

We listened to what they had to say. So, we 

ended up with a really good product, a video 

that is well received by our target audience.” 

(TB program staff, high-incidence Eastern 

state) 

Forging Partnerships to Eliminate Tuberculosis: A Guide and Toolkit  

Chapter : What Your Colleagues Say About TB Partnerships