Journal article
Locating Power in a Cross-Sectoral Health Promotion Collaboration Addressing HIV and Hepatitis C
Health promotion journal of Australia, Vol.37(4), pp.1-10
10/2026
PMID: 42716917
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Abstract
Issue Addressed: Power is central to understanding how health promotion networks and collaborations function. Power underpins the relational connectivity, yet its complexity renders it difficult to define. This study explores how power is understood within a health promotion network addressing HIV and Hepatitis C in Victoria, Australia.
Methods: Inductive interviews were conducted with 30 senior organisational members working in the HIV and Hepatitis C health sector in Victoria, Australia. Participating organisations included community, research, government and health organisations. Interviews were coded in NVivo using an inductive approach, underpinned by a phenomenological framework.
Results: Five themes were identified: multiple dimensions of funding; collaboration and relationships as power; organisations as champions or gatekeepers; the role of evidence in defining the sector; and the role of advocacy in the sector. The different and recognised power mechanisms, through which each part of the sector could have influence, were a valued characteristic of the response.
Conclusion: The Victorian HIV and HCV network provides a useful insight into the multiple forms of power within a health promotion network, and how these forms of power helped balance aspects of the power asymmetries in the network. This research indicates the need to consider power in multiple, potentially balancing dimensions when developing policies to strengthen collaborative health promotion practice.
So What?: Understanding the value of multiple forms of power within long-term networks may help strengthen cultures, values, and policies that ensure power dynamics enhance, rather than limit, collaborative practice.
Details
- Title
- Locating Power in a Cross-Sectoral Health Promotion Collaboration Addressing HIV and Hepatitis C
- Creators
- Dan Chamberlain - La Trobe UniversityRobyn Keast - Southern Cross UniversityGraham Brown - La Trobe UniversityCynthia M Webster - Macquarie UniversityMaria Kelly - UNSW SydneyJoseph S Doyle - Burnet InstitutePeter Higgs - Burnet Institute
- Publication Details
- Health promotion journal of Australia, Vol.37(4), pp.1-10
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Grant note
- Funding for this research was provided by the Australian ResearchCouncil Discovery grant DP210102314. Open access publishingfacilitated by La Trobe University, as part of the Wiley - La TrobeUniversity agreement via the Council of Australasian UniversityLibrarians.
- Identifiers
- 991013400562902368
- Copyright
- © 2026 The Author(s).
- Academic Unit
- Management; Faculty of Business, Law and Arts
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article