Population Health-Health Promotion Service, South Western Sydney Local Health District, Waranara Building, Eastern Campus, Liverpool Hospital, Liverpool BC, NSW, 1871, Australia.
School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Architecture and Design, The University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Health Res Policy Syst. 2022 Apr 28;20(1):47. doi: 10.1186/s12961-022-00850-1.
Partnership between local government and local health districts is imperative, given their overlapping goals. However, the need for further evidence-informed actions to address health inequities remains. The effectiveness of such partnerships requires better insight into how local governments perceive partnerships with local health districts, and how well equipped and prepared they are to deal with the health equity opportunities and challenges. It was precisely for these reasons that a qualitative study was conducted by South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) in 2016.
This study aims to better understand how to improve the effectiveness of collaboration between local governments and the public health sector.
Qualitative data were collected from 14 in-depth interviews with staff representing five of the local councils comprising SWSLHD. These data were then thematically analysed using inductive and deductive reasoning through the application of NVivo software.
While councils recognize the potential value of consulting SWSLHD, limited communication and the absence of a clearly defined process for collaboration needs to be addressed. Moreover, councils perceive knowledge gaps in relation to basic issues, such as who provides what services to whom, and how to access local-government-level data from health experts.
The study confirms the importance of providing locally relevant public health data to help address issues of mutual concern that arise during the consultation process. Moreover, it suggests that proactive and ongoing consultation between SWSLHD and councils is critical if there is to be effective engagement, and coordinated and sustained action. The concerns raised in this study echo findings from studies from other local government settings of Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales. Thus, the study findings may be applied to other councils beyond the SWSLHD.
鉴于地方政府和地方卫生区的目标重叠，它们之间建立伙伴关系至关重要。然而，仍然需要进一步采取循证行动来解决健康不平等问题。这种伙伴关系的有效性需要更好地了解地方政府如何看待与地方卫生区的伙伴关系，以及它们在应对健康公平机会和挑战方面的装备和准备情况。正是出于这些原因，South Western Sydney Local Health District（SWSLHD）在 2016 年进行了一项定性研究。
本研究旨在更好地了解如何提高地方政府与公共卫生部门合作的有效性。
从 SWSLHD 五个地方议会的 14 名工作人员中收集了定性数据，这些工作人员进行了深入访谈。然后，通过使用 NVivo 软件应用归纳和演绎推理对这些数据进行主题分析。
虽然议会认识到咨询 SWSLHD 的潜在价值，但需要解决沟通有限和缺乏明确的合作流程的问题。此外，议会认为在基本问题上存在知识差距，例如谁向谁提供什么服务，以及如何从卫生专家那里获取地方政府级别的数据。
该研究证实了向地方提供相关公共卫生数据以帮助解决协商过程中出现的共同关注问题的重要性。此外，它表明如果要进行有效的参与以及协调和持续的行动，SWSLHD 和议会之间的积极和持续协商至关重要。本研究提出的问题反映了来自维多利亚州、南澳大利亚州和新南威尔士州其他地方政府环境的研究结果。因此，该研究结果可能适用于 SWSLHD 以外的其他议会。
