More than Just a Talkfest: The Process of Developing Collaborations in Ageing across Two Different Community Types

Abstract

In the contemporary context, collaborations between different sectors are increasingly being used to solve complex policy problems. This includes those posed by population ageing, as one of the principal demographic forces shaping the policy agenda of countries such as Australia. This article draws on findings from a three-year research project designed to develop effective collaborations aimed at achieving local initiatives associated with ageing well within the community. The specific aim of this article is to analyse and compare the process of collaboration that developed in two different urban communities, employing a conceptual framework of effective collaboration developed from the literature. The framework comprises six inter-connected factors—the context, member characteristics, processes and procedures, structures and relationships, the purpose or goal of the collaboration, and the available resources. The two study communities comprised one traditional ageing-in-place context and one sea change environment, in order to look for similarities and differences across alternative urban environments associated with population ageing. The intention of the article is to contribute to knowledge around building effective community-based collaborations.

Keywords:

• Collaborations
• partnerships
• ageing
• urban environments

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all those who participated in this study in the two local communities, and in particular, their partners in the project. The research was funded by Australian Research Council Linkage Grant LP 0667640.