Figure 1

Partnership learning model to achieve large-scale change. The Partnership Learning Model integrates key concepts and approaches to increase health system capacity to bring about improvements in quality of care and to impact on population health. The components support reflection on mechanisms and interactions that enable health system strengthening and large-scale change. Within the Partnership Learning Model, Comprehensive Primary Healthcare is an approach to and operational base for health service delivery, Integrated Quality Improvement and Systems-Based Participatory Action Research are processes that generate and use data for the purpose of learning and improvement across the health system, and System-Based Research Networks provide a structure for multisite/multilevel learning and a mechanism for achieving influence at various levels of practice, management and policy—thereby enhancing potential for large scale change. Three approaches to thinking and using information that run through the model are systems thinking, health systems strengthening, and knowledge translation. Definitions and contributions of the concepts are summarized in Table 1.