Outside the Cage: Exploring Everyday Interactions between Government Workers and Residents in a Place-Based Health Initiative ()
ABSTRACT
This paper presents an ethnographic case
study of the daily lived experience of place by government health and community
workers in a place-based chronic disease initiative (PBI) located in a disadvantaged
peri-urban area in Australia. The case study focused on the place at which the
PBI staff members interfaced with the community informally as opposed to the
deliberate interactions described in the formal community engagement strategy.
Subtle social phenomena, such as social positioning and the contrasting
cultures of bureaucracy and community, generated outcomes that were the
antithesis of those sought by the PBI. If these characteristics of place are
not attended to during the development of PBIs, we risk recreating existing
social divides and jeopardizing the potential of these initiatives to build
community capacity. This case study provides an important
conceptual-theoretical understanding of the place-based approach, which can
augment existing empirical studies of place. The findings are also relevant for
those who are exploring the physical co-location of diverse professional groups
in socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods. It also exposes the inherent
complexity of “place” and the futility of poorly designed
bureaucratic responses.
Share and Cite:
Sunderland, N. (2013). Outside the Cage: Exploring Everyday Interactions between Government Workers and Residents in a Place-Based Health Initiative.
Advances in Applied Sociology, 3, 61-68. doi:
10.4236/aasoci.2013.31008.