The joys and tribulations of partnership working in care homes for older people

Partnership working in care homes for older people does happen, but the nature of this approach to improving the care provided in care homes has not been well articulated. Drawing on the experiences of participants (researchers, relatives and care home managers) from three projects the benefits and challenges of partnership working in this care setting are discussed. The benefits of working in partnership extended beyond the specific remit for each project, through the development of closer relationships between people in the care home. The challenges of partnership working derived largely from the process of learning to work together and the practicalities of finding time to invest in projects beyond the normal care demands. Requirements for successful partnership working were identified and included a need for time, a core group of committed participants and preliminary groundwork.