PhD Completion Seminar: “Older people & their carers as co-producers of complex care: A study of co-production in caring for ageing populations in the community”

Louise completed her MPH specialising in program evaluation at the University of Melbourne, prior to receiving an Australian Postgraduate Award to complete her PhD. As a research assistant at the CHPPE she has experience in health workforce research, with a particular interest in informal carers. Louise recently co-authored the chapter ‘Public Management and Co-production’ in Co-production and Co-creation: Engaging Citizens in Public Services (Eds. Brandsen, Steen and Verschuere 2018).

This seminar is concerned with the largely under-appreciated phenomenon of ‘co-production’ as it applies to the challenge of caring for ageing populations. Co-production is where citizens and clients make active contributions to the joint production of services with public service providers. As a field of study, it is particularly germane to care services given co-production is often unavoidable and instrumental to improving health outcomes and maintaining independence living in the community. This thesis examines the potential impact of emerging health systems reforms on co-production drawing on a systematic policy document analysis and interviews with senior policy makers and other key stakeholders. It also provides a framework for facilitating and sustaining the care of people with complex needs in the community, based on a qualitative study exploring the lived experiences of older Victorians and their carers as ‘co-producers’. This research and its implications for policy, research and practice will be discussed.

Friday 7th June 1pm–2pm Seminar Room 515, Level 5 207 Bouverie Street, Carlton