An exploratory qualitative study of inter-agency health and social service partnerships focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients
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(Published version)
Date
2024
Authors
Dawson, A.P.
Warrior, E.
Pearson, O.
Boyd, M.
Dwyer, J.
Morey, K.
Brodie, T.
Towers, K.
Waters, S.
Avila, C.
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BMC Health Services Research, 2024; 24(1):1576-1-1576-17
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Anna P. Dawson, Eugene Warrior, Odette Pearson, Mark Boyd, Judith Dwyer, Kim Morey, Tina Brodie, Kurt Towers, Sonia Waters, Cynthia Avila, Courtney Hammond, Katherine Lake, Uncle Frank Lampard, Uncle Frank Wanganeen, Olive Bennell, Darrien Bromley, Toni Shearing, Nathan Rigney, Schania Czygan, Nikki Clinch, Andrea Pitson, Alex Brown, Natasha J. Howard
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: The siloed nature of the health and social service system threatens access for clients engaging numerous organisations. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face adverse circumstances which contribute to multiple health and social needs. Effective relationships between health and social services are integral to coordinated service provision to meet the diverse needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients. Place-specific insights into inter-agency relationships are needed to inform targeted strategies that bolster service coordination to benefit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. METHODS: This study sought to understand experiences of inter-agency partnerships among health and social service providers on Kaurna Country in northern Adelaide using semi-structured interviews and yarning circles to explore partnership actions, outcomes, enablers, challenges, and identify strategies to strengthen partnerships. Fifty-nine service providers (78% female, 62% Aboriginal) participated including six from non-government organisations, 17 from Aboriginal community-controlled services and 36 from government organisations. RESULTS: A content analysis identified partnership actions such as client advocacy, referrals, sharing information, case management meetings and collaborative tender submissions which were seen to improve client access, navigation and outcomes and strengthen worker connectedness and job satisfaction. Motivated workers, listening to Aboriginal people, shared goals and values, and partnership agreements (e.g., memorandum of understanding, service contracts) were identified enablers of partnerships. Racism and ignorance, lack of networking events, communication breakdown, red tape and administrative barriers, competition between services, short-term funding, high turnover of staff and a focus on key performance indicators rather than community needs were among the challenges. Effective partnerships to benefit Aboriginal communities in northern Adelaide was reported to require aligned intersectoral strategic intentions, reforms to service commissioning processes, sustainable funding, regular network events for management and frontline workforce, Aboriginal practitioner-led service coordination approaches and a network of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers across organisations. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified key leverage points for action on inter-agency partnerships to benefit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities on Kaurna Country. System drivers such as funded inter-agency networks and reforms to commissioning of services must support organisational- and practitioner-level enablers to strengthen partnerships between health and social services across northern Adelaide.
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© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.