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By Samantha Laba
The tri-sector engagement approach can be defined as “a holistic leadership approach that calls for businesses to involve all three sectors - business, government and nonprofit - in their work” (Rosén, 2013). In mental health care, public and private services are important for patient management and the efficient organization of services. However, there seem to be multiple barriers to effective collaboration. A study conducted in Australia examined these barriers and was published by the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry in 2005.
A questionnaire was sent to all public sector mental health clinics and all private psychiatrists in the metropolitan Melbourne area in which the study was conducted. It was found that the main barriers to successful collaboration included: “‘difficulty communicating’ endorsed by 71.4% of public clinicians and 72% of private psychiatrists, ‘confusion of roles and responsibilities’ endorsed by 62.9% and 66% respectively, and ‘different treatment approach’ by 47.6% and 45.6% respectively” (Yung et al., 2005). Developing partnerships between private and public sectors of the community is a key component in the Australian Second National Mental Health Plan (“Second National Mental Health Plan”, 2001).
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This Australian study is an important guide in understanding why tri-sector engagement is not common in regards to mental health care and how to integrate engagement effectively in the United States. It is important to first establish why this divide occurs and open up the conversation between public and private sectors. In the conversation, there needs to be an establishment of what each sector does best, for example, the public sectors needs to be fully aware of the private sector’s range of expertise, and visa versa, in order for collaboration to occur.
References
Rosén, A. (2013, October). The Tri-Sector Athlete. Retrieved October 14, 2018, from http://pause-stiftelse.com/sites/default/files/Tri-sector leadership.pdf
Second National Mental Health Plan. (2001). Retrieved from http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/mental-pubs-i-midrev2-toc~mental-pubs-i-midrev2-2~mental-pubs-i-midrev2-2-sec
Yung, A., Gill, L., Sommerville, E., Dowling, B., Simon, K., Pirkis, J., . . . Burgess, P. (2005, January). Public and private psychiatry: Can they work together and is it worth the effort? Retrieved October 2018, 14, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15660707