Bringing organisations together during a pandemic: the case of an intersectoral community support group

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, posing multiple challenges to healthcare organisations and communities. The Darling Downs region in Queensland, Australia had its first positive case of COVID-19 confirmed in March 2020, which created understandable anxiety in the community. The Vulnerable Communities Group (VCG) was established to address this anxiety through open lines of communication to strengthen community resilience. This case study reports the evaluation of the VCG, plus lessons learned while establishing and running an intersectoral group, with stakeholders from more than 40 organisations, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. An anonymous online survey with closed and open-ended questions was administered to participants. Data were subject to descriptive statistical tests and content analysis. Four categories were developed from the free text data for reporting: 'Knowledge is power', 'Beating isolation through partnerships and linkages', 'Sharing is caring', and 'Ripple effects'. Whilst open communication and collaboration are always essential, they can be critically important during times of crisis. The VCG initiative is one example of tackling the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic through bringing the community together. What is known about the topic? The COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense strain on the global community. It has thrust healthcare professionals and community leaders into an unforeseen situation, with little information being available on how to effectively deal with the pandemic to negate its effects. What does this paper add? This paper reports on the establishment and evaluation of the Vulnerable Communities Group (VCG) in the Toowoomba, Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, using a community of practice framework. It provides insight into how to establish and retain an intersectoral community of practice group during rapidly changing and challenging times, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. What are the implications for practitioners? Practitioners can use a community of practice framework to establish and evaluate an intersectoral group, as described in our paper, to enhance community connectedness to reduce isolation and share information and resources to help negate the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.