A Qualitative Comparative Analysis Examining Collaboration and Cooperation Among Organizations Providing Services to Older Adults

• In Event: 1184 - Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 16. Non-Profit

Abstract

Establishing collaborative networks of organizations, called systems of care or age-friendly communities, can help ensure that older adults receive services that meet their holistic needs. Collaboration is a function of the structural features of organizations, perceptions of environmental pressures, and attitudes of organizational leaders. Drawing on interviews with 48 leaders of organizations providing services to older adults, this study presents a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) examining structural features of organizations and perceptions of environmental uncertainties – alone or in combination – that are sufficient or necessary to produce collaboration or cooperation with other organizations. The QCA explored whether four conditions were sufficient or necessary to produce collaboration or cooperation: (1) reliable private-pay funding; (2) targets services to women, racial/ethnic minorities, or low-income populations; (3) staffing uncertainties; and (4) primarily provides services within older adults’ homes. Results found two combinations of conditions were sufficient to achieve collaboration or cooperation: (1) Not having reliable private-pay funding in combination with having targeted services, having staffing uncertainties, and not having home-based services; and (2) Having reliable private-pay funding in combination with having targeted services, not having staffing uncertainties, and not having home-based services. One interpretation of the first solution is government and nonprofit organizations that provided targeted services in the community engage in collaboration or cooperation to reduce funding and staffing uncertainties. This interpretation lends support to the resource-dependence model. One interpretation of the second solution is organizations with reliable funding and staffing engage in collaboration or cooperation as part of a broader mission to improve access to services in the community for women, racial/ethnic minorities, or low-income populations. This interpretation identifies the mission and mandate of organizations as a driver of collaboration and cooperation and, as such, emphasizes the importance of the U.S. Older Americans Act as a potential catalyst of collaboration and cooperation.

Author

• Stephanie Marie Teixeira-Poit, RTI International