Surviving neoliberalism, maintaining values: Community health mergers in Victoria, Australia

Roussy, Veronique; Livingstone, Charles

doi:10.1002/hpm.2513

Cited by 45 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(89 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our findings particularly illuminate previous suggestions of poor information systems and monitoring of mental health in LMICs and affirms that provincial government managers hold significant power over programme funding and information . Views from this study district further highlighted the discrepancies between the purported support by state government for frontline health care provisioning and actual resourcing of such services . In our findings state and formal health system hierarchies emerged as forms of power that guided the referral and collaborative behaviour of the mental health service network.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

At the coalface of collaborative mental health care: A qualitative study of governance and power in district‐level service provision in South Africa

Rensburg

Khan

Wouters

et al. 2018

Health Planning & Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Globally, there is an urgency to address fragmented mental health systems, especially in low-to-middle income countries. State and non-state mental health service collaboration is a central strategy to strengthen care. The study was undertaken to analyse the power in governance processes of public mental health service provision. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with state and non-state actors in mental health care in a South African district. Transcriptions were thematically analysed using the Framework for Assessing Power in Collaborative Processes. Findings suggested that collaborative processes were significantly state-owned, in terms of funding models, administrative and legislative jurisdiction, and state hierarchical referral structure. No formal agreements were in place, elevating the importance of key network actors to bring less-endowed NGOs into the service network. Fragmentation between the Departments of Health and Social Development was telling in district forums. Resistance to power structures unfolded, some participants sidestepping traditional hierarchies to leverage funding and support. The paper highlights the complexities and different facets of power in integrated mental health care in a South African district, adding to growing literature on the social mechanisms that influence collaboration.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

At the coalface of collaborative mental health care: A qualitative study of governance and power in district‐level service provision in South Africa

Rensburg

Khan

Wouters

et al. 2018

Health Planning & Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This method was selected to focus the data analysis on exploring perceptions of legitimacy changes from the point of view of different stakeholder groups. To develop the analysis template, desired merger outcomes identified during the study's first phase of data collection in 2014 (Roussy and Livingstone, 2018) were classified according to the type of legitimacy they fit best with, using Suchman's typology (Suchman, 1995) (Table 2). The draft template was discussed among all authors, then trialled by the first author during a preliminary coding round with three transcripts.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2014, we began a longitudinal case study of two such organisations. Our first phase of data collection demonstrated that their primary driver for amalgamating was a desire to manipulate and enhance their long-term organisational legitimacy in the face Merger effect on health organisations of neoliberalisation in order to secure their survival and ongoing capacity to deliver comprehensive PHC services to disadvantaged populations (Roussy and Livingstone, 2018).…”

Section: Organisational Legitimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mergers may enhance the legitimacy of community health organisations in neoliberal environments

Roussy

Russell

Livingstone

et al. 2021

JHOM

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeComprehensive primary health care (PHC) models are seldom implemented in high income countries, in part due to their contested legitimacy in neoliberal policy environments. This article explores how merging affected the perceived legitimacy of independent community health organisations in Victoria, Australia, in providing comprehensive PHC services.Design/methodology/approachA longitudinal follow-up study (2–3 years post-merger) of two amalgamations among independent community health organisations from the state of Victoria, Australia, was conducted. This article explores the perceived effects of merging on (1) the pragmatic, normative and cognitive legitimacy of studied organisations and (2) the collective legitimacy of these organisations in Victoria's health care system. Data were collected through 19 semi-structured interviews with key informants and subjected to template and thematic analyses.FindingsMerging enabled individual organisations to gain greater overall legitimacy as regional providers of comprehensive PHC services and thus retain some capacity to operationalise a social model of health. Normative legitimacy was most enhanced by merging, through acquisition of a large organisational size and adoption of business practices favoured by neoliberal norms. However, mergers may have destabilised the already contested cognitive legitimacy of community health services as a group of organisations and as a comprehensible state-wide platform of service delivery.Practical implicationsOver-reliance on individual organisational behaviour to maintain the legitimacy of comprehensive PHC as a model of organising health and social care could lead to inequities in access to such models across communities.Originality/valueThis study shows that organisations can manage their perceived legitimacy in order to ensure the survival of their preferred model of service delivery.

show abstract

An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Community and primary health care nursing is a rapidly growing field. Founded on the social model of health, the primary health care approach explores how social, environmental, economic and political factors affect the health of the individual and communities, and the role of nurses and other health care practitioners in facilitating an equitable and collaborative health care process. An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care provides an engaging introduction to the theory, skills and range of professional roles in community settings. This edition has been fully revised to include current research and practice, and includes three new chapters on health informatics, refugee health nursing and developing a career in primary health care. Written by an expert team, this highly readable text is an indispensable resource for any reader undertaking a course in community and primary health care and developing their career in the community.

show abstract

Surviving neoliberalism, maintaining values: Community health mergers in Victoria, Australia

Cited by 45 publications

References 36 publications

At the coalface of collaborative mental health care: A qualitative study of governance and power in district‐level service provision in South Africa

At the coalface of collaborative mental health care: A qualitative study of governance and power in district‐level service provision in South Africa

Mergers may enhance the legitimacy of community health organisations in neoliberal environments

An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About