Local status and power in area-based health improvement partnerships

Bibliographic Data

ID4849686
AuthorsKatie Powell (0000-0001-8936-9661, University of Sheffield), Miranda Thurston (0000-0001-7779-3836, Hedmark University College, Norway), Daniel Bloyce (0000-0003-4114-3588, University of Chester)
Year2014
Volume18
Issue6
Pages561-579
Publication date2014-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHealth An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health Illness and Medicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1363-4593 • E-ISSN: 1461-7196
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1363459314524802
PMID24695385
OpenAlexW2042153645
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited35

Area-based initiatives have formed an important part of public policy towards more socio-economically deprived areas in many countries. Co-ordinating service provision within and across sectors has been a common feature of these initiatives. Despite sustained policy interest in area-based initiatives, little empirical work has explored relations between area-based initiative providers, and partnership development within this context remains under-theorised. This article addresses both of these gaps by exploring partnerships as a social and developmental process, drawing on concepts from figurational sociology to explain how provider relations develop within an area-based initiative. Qualitative methods were used to explore, prospectively, the development of an area-based initiative targeted at a town in the north west of England. A central finding was that although effective delivery of area-based initiatives is premised on a high level of co-ordination between service providers, the pattern of interdependencies between providers limits the frequency and effectiveness of co-operation. In particular, the interdependency of area-based initiative providers with others in their organisation (what is termed here as 'organisational pull') constrained the ways in which they worked with providers outside of their own organisations. 'Local' status, which could be earned over time, enabled some providers to exert greater control over the way in which provider relations developed during the course of the initiative. These findings demonstrate how historically constituted social networks, within which all providers are embedded, shape partnership development. The theoretical insight developed here suggests a need for more realistic expectations among policymakers about how and to what extent provider partnerships can be managed

Business · General partnership · Geography · Interdependence · Political science · Public relations · Service delivery framework · Service provider · Engineering · Global Health Workforce Issues · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Primary Care and Health Outcomes · Marketing

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access