The Declaration: New strategic thinking to advancing health leadership and management through collaboration across the Asia Pacific region

BACKGROUND: Collaborations between organisations from developed and developing nations in the Asia Pacific region have secured partnerships in education, training, research and professional development that target enhancement of capacity building in health management. Although 'Declarations' supporting various social, political, economic and health collaborative activities have gained prominence over the years, it is only a relatively new area of strategic thinking and application for health management. METHOD: The study analyses the formation and overall value of two recent Declarations used to promote and advance health management as a profession - the SHAPE Declaration and the Phitsanulok Declaration. It analyses the descriptive data and other information derived from structured interviews with key stakeholders. RESULTS: The elements critical to the preparation of the Declarations included partner champions, strong and representative leadership group, mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and expertise, wide stakeholder dialogue, the contribution of key Colleges (ACHSE and SHAPE) and, an appropriately designed conference structure and numerous social activities that support partners working closely together. The Declaration development engaged and included new partners and new professional development opportunities. CONCLUSIONS: Cross-cultural collaboration provides new and challenging patterns of networking for health management. The Declarations were found to be a powerful new tool in building dialogue and expressing agreement for promoting the principles and actions required for a positive culture of reform and change in Australia and the Asia Pacific region.