Factors which affect partnerships between organisations in public health prevention

What is it about?

Organisations which work in the public health prevention space are often well connected informally within communities. But when it comes to formal partnerships, for example when applying for joint funding to run a project, partnerships are harder to establish and maintain. We look at the ways in which organisations within an Australian community are connected to each other and examine some of the barriers which stop those connections being used to leverage partnership arrangements to attract more funding.

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Why is it important?

Governance in public health is diffuse in comparison to the acute health care system, and arrangements are often made in ad hoc, piecemeal fashion. At the same time there is increasing pressure from funding bodies and grantmakers for organisations to partner formally when applying for funding. Better understanding of the partnership making process is needed to understand why this process often falls down at the formal end of the scale, even when informal connections between organisations are strong and well maintained.