Fostering Inter-Agency Collaboration for the Delivery of Community-Based Services for Older Adults

Abstract Organisations promoting health and social outcomes are grappling with two concurrent realities: dwindling budgets and declining state support; and a rapidly ageing population. This is true for all levels of government, non-governmental organisations and non-profits. This study assessed the process and extent to which four non-profit organisations collaborated to meet service objectives related to older adults in a local area. A collaboration survey and semi-structured interviews with nine stakeholders from four community-based public-sector organisations were conducted annually for three years. Interviews were transcribed and data were analysed using topic and analytic coding. Successful inter-agency collaborations involved: (i) shared vision; (ii) effective communication; (iii) time to build relationships; (iv) shared expertise and resources; and (v) strong leadership. Factors that jeopardised inter-agency collaboration included: (i) misinformed understanding of goals; (ii) meetings seen as a waste of time; (iii) not sharing resources; and (iv) lack of organisational resources. This paper makes two distinct contributions. We highlight that successful collaborations are about a process that includes relationship building, sharing of resources and establishing a shared vision; and we offer a method for those involved in the establishment and assessment of collaborations to provide appropriate, accessible and timely assessments of collaborative efforts.