Collaboration for Healthy Ageing Through Preventive Home Visits: Identifying Home Visitors' Collaboration Partners.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Intersectoral collaboration is essential for promoting healthy ageing. Preventive home visits provide an opportunity for home visitors to support healthy ageing among older adults. However, little is known about which collaboration partners the home visitors engage with. This study aimed to identify collaboration partners engaged by home visitors to achieve positive outcomes from preventive home visits.

METHOD: This study was based on a re-analysis of data from five focus group discussions with a total of 16 professionals involved in preventive home visits across five Swedish municipalities. The data was analysed using conventional content analysis. Ethical approval was obtained from the Swedish ethical review authority (reference number 2022-06054-01).

RESULTS

The analysis revealed that collaboration with influential entities, such as politicians and the media, was seen as critical for advancing healthy ageing initiatives. Other important partners included those involved in meaningful leisure activities, enabling participation, lifelong learning, and the health- and social care sectors.

CONCLUSIONS

Home visitors collaborate with a broad range of sectors to promote healthy ageing. Support from leaders in key positions may enhance the effectiveness of these collaborations. The identified partners should be considered in the planning of preventive home visits within a whole-of-society approach to ageing.