The need for collaboration in health and social welfare is well documented internationally. It is related to the improvement of services for the users, particularly target groups with multiple problems. However, there is still insufficient knowledge of the complex area of collaboration, and the interprofessional literature highlights the need to develop adequate research approaches for exploring collaboration between organizations, professionals and service users. This paper proposes a conceptual framework based on interorganizational and interprofessional research, with focus on the concepts of integration and collaboration. Furthermore, the paper suggests how two measurement instruments can be combined and adapted to the welfare context in order to explore collaboration between organizations, professionals and service users, thereby contributing to knowledge development and policy improvement. Issues concerning reliability, validity and design alternatives, as well as the importance of management, clinical implications and service user involvement in future research, are discussed.
This paper presents a selection of theoretical approaches illuminating some aspects of interprofessional collaboration, which will be related to theory of contingency as well as to the concepts of differentiation and integration. Theories that describe collaboration on an interpersonal as well as inter-organizational level are outlined and related to dynamic and contextual factors. Implications for the organization of welfare services are elucidated and a categorization of internal and external collaborative forms is proposed. A reflection model is presented in order to analyse the degree of integration in collaborative work and may serve as an analytical tool for addressing the linkage between different levels of collaboration and identifying opportunities and limitations. Some implications related to the legal mandate(s) given to childcare agencies are discussed in relation to the context of childcare in Norway.
This study addresses leadership in interprofessional collaboration in childcare services (residential care). The aim was to explore the managers' (n = 6) experiences and present their views on how they exercised leadership in the residential institutions as well as how they organized and facilitated collaboration with relevant professionals and service users. Data was collected through open interviews. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the interviews, and three categories emerged; "external responsibility", "sustaining communication" and "internal responsibility". The overarching concept was identified as "facilitating interaction processes and ensuring cohesion". The main findings were related to the managers' experiences of linked processes of leadership and collaboration, perceptions of the structures of communication, their responsibility as well as the interaction processes. The managers exercised leadership in terms of self-governance and co-governance, and used strategies, such as governing images and influencing the voluntary aspect of collaboration.
The aim of this study is to examine the conditions for achieving free and open communication in collaboration. The context is child protection where ‘the best interest of the child’ is at stake. First, a theoretical standard based on free and open communication and equal partnership (deliberation) is presented. Secondly, an explorative analysis is undertaken of the collaboration process between professionals and service users in two review groups regarding two young people, Jane and Tom, both of whom appear to have psychosocial problems living in residential care. Thirdly, on the basis of this analysis, recommendations on how to improve collaboration in review groups are made. The findings show that collaboration has several functions: formal decision‐making, legitimate decision‐making and learning. There is a need to clarify the purpose of collaboration and strengthen structural arrangements as well as develop guidelines for handling challenges at different levels.
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