Abstract
Twinning programs in health have gained increased recognition as a WHO preferred strategy for providing a sustainable strategy for enhancing the delivery of best practice healthcare globally. The Tonga Twinning Program (TTP), represents a longstanding relationship of some twenty-five years between The Ministry of Health in Tonga and St John of God Hospital, Ballarat, Australia and provides a compelling example of what can be achieved. This article presents the findings from a longitudinal exploration of the experiences and perceptions of the TTP through the voices of those key-stakeholders situated in Tonga who have engaged with the program. Informed by the tenets of hermeneutic phenomenology, a modified thematic analysis highlighted two major themes, ‘A shared mission' and ‘The outcomes are more than the tangibles', which supported by a series of sub-themes, identify the core components of the experience of the TTP. This study suggests that the TTP has supported a collective sense of bringing the very best available knowledge and skills to the people of Tonga and has fostered a genuine and open dialogue between partners as a mechanism for change that goes well beyond simply a capacity to replicate skills and instead has establish a genuine reciprocity akin to being a family.
Highlights
This paper contributes to the developing body of evidence for Twinning in healthcare where a collaborative relationship is established between two organisations that are similar in some way (Hong, et al, 2012)
This study focuses on the experiences and outcomes the Tonga Twinning Program (TTP), an international collaboration between St John of God Ballarat Hospital, (SJGBH) Australia, and the Ministry of Health, Tonga, (MOHT)
The experience of the people from Tonga who engaged with the TTP can be broadly clustered under the major theme A shared mission which is amplified by a series of three sub-themes: Achieving the mission, Mission barriers, and The outcomes are more than merely the tangibles, each of these is unpacked in detail below
Summary
This paper contributes to the developing body of evidence for Twinning in healthcare where a collaborative relationship is established between two organisations that are similar in some way (Hong, et al, 2012). This study focuses on the experiences and outcomes the Tonga Twinning Program (TTP), an international collaboration between St John of God Ballarat Hospital, (SJGBH) Australia, and the Ministry of Health, Tonga, (MOHT). A close examination of the experiences and perceptions of the TTP through the voices of key-stakeholders from diverse areas, both Clinical and Non Clinical provides insight into the widespread and long-term impact Twinning programs can make. Twinning is considered one of the possible approaches [1,2,3]. Twinning in a healthcare context is an approach that brings together health professionals from different countries and cultures in an effort to improve healthcare of both countries through the empowerment of both visiting and welcoming healthcare professional [4,5]
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