Challenges in interprofessionalism in Swiss health care: the practice of successful interprofessional collaboration as experienced by professionals

Abstract

The topic of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) between healthcare professionals has been widely discussed in recent years. Whereas the growing calls for more and better IPC can scarcely be ignored and a broad range of definitions and normative concepts have been proposed, it remains unclear what IPC actually means for practising professionals. This exploratory survey investigated the various ways in which successful IPC is understood in practice. As a main finding of the study, we were able to identify three distinct modes of collaboration between different professions in health care. Moreover, we provide evidence that whether and how IPC occurs strongly depends on the care contexts or settings in which these health professionals work. Explicit acknowledgement of and attention to these findings could improve the impact of initiatives to foster IPC.

Organizational climate and teamwork at the Family Health Strategy

“…Moreover, it is an opportunity to match the power relations between these professionals. In view of this, there must be consistent negotiation processes between the different professional categories, largely dedicated to deconstructing the domain of a single profession over others and placing interprofessional power relations equally (25) .…”

“…This reality points to the need for major changes in the training of human resources for health, in order to raise awareness, in particular, of social, structural and cultural dynamics, from interprofessional educational modules for students. Training investments are also important, especially if they consist of training focused on specific contexts of Primary Care (22,25) .…”

Megatrends in Healthcare: Review for the Swiss National Science Foundation’s National Research Programme 74 (NRP74) “Smarter Health Care”

“…As a consequence, working in interprofessional, collaborative care teams, which also include patients and informal caregivers, rather than parallel work structures, is becoming increasingly popular [ 77 ]. Successfully integrating interprofessional collaboration in care requires overcoming several challenges (e.g., communication between different health professions, or integrating ways of how to work interprofessionally in the education of different health professions) [ 78 ].…”

Interprofessional Collaboration in a New Model of Transitional Care for Families with Preterm Infants – The Health Care Professional’s Perspective

“…They were caught in a paradigm shift from a multidisciplinary collaboration within hierarchical structures where HCP from different disciplines worked in parallel 40 to a network IPC. 41 This type of change can stress and irritate stakeholders, as Vahs and Weiand 42 describe. The HCP in our focus groups were uncertain, especially about the role of the APN and the reallocation of tasks, and they feared their responsibilities and position would be diminished.…”