Partnership in action: forging a new approach

Housing, Care and Support, Ahead of Print. Purpose Professional partnerships between housing and health are not impossible, but they take time, commitment and dedicated strategic leadership. The language and culture of the two sectors are sometimes complex and do not always match. There can be issues understanding each other ’s motivation, ethics and terminology which can cause a barrier when working together. The purpose of this paper is to share the journey of how Wakefield District Housing (WDH) is working with the care and health sector to create sustainable partnerships that benefit both parties, getting to a sta ge where they could successfully integrate with healthcare providers in the Wakefield district. Design/methodology/approach The paper offers the reader an overview of how WDH’s membership of the Wakefield Health and Wellbeing Board enabled improved partnership working with NHS and other members, including the establishment of a Housing, Health and Social Care Partnership, the employment of dedicated senior staff, co-located multi-disciplinary teams and joint design of new services. Findings WDH has demonstrated that the organisation understands the challenges facing NHS colleagues, has a cknowledged the complexities of the system that their partners work in and looked for solutions alongside them. The opportunities within partnership working are boundless and, if successful, the outcomes for tenants and the wider Wakefield population could be in excess of...
Source: Housing, Care and Support - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research