Report on the implementation and evaluation of an interprofessional learning programme for inter‐agency child protection teams

Abstract

Effective collaborative working between the different professions and agencies working to safeguard children is essential. Lack of knowledge of others' roles, perceived differences in status and expertise, and negative stereotypes are examples of why this can be difficult to achieve. A facilitated interprofessional learning (IPL) programme was implemented to assess if such an intervention could overcome some of the barriers to effective interprofessional and inter-agency team working. Six teams based in primary and secondary care trusts took part with participants from health, education, police and social services. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from individual participants using a pre-validated team climate inventory and reflective statements. Findings from this study demonstrate statistically significant changes in five out of six categories in the inventory. Reflective statements suggested that overall the programme offered a positive learning experience at both an individual and team level. The importance of outside facilitation to maintain the team's momentum was acknowledged, as was the difficulty of maintaining a good level of activity once the programme had ended. Nevertheless, the IPL programme provided a timely opportunity to reflect upon the interprofessional and inter-agency team working needed within Children's Trusts and the implications for staff involved with regard to skills development.

Learning to collaborate: a study of nursing students’ experience of inter‐professional education at one UK university

“…Fourth, the perceived problems of professional tribalism, status/power differentials and resource shunting, identified in Table 3, are consistent with those identified as barriers to collaboration in other studies (see Rummery and Glendinning 1997). It was found that considerable time was needed to address these issues and explore ways that such cultural differences could be mitigated, a finding consistent with a recent study of an inter-professional learning programme in child protection (Watkin et al 2009). Barriers and cultural differences may influence the way different work cultures develop and the values that professionals hold about themselves and each other (Anning 2004).…”

“…Critical collaborative practice could address the problem of power and status differentials which are notoriously difficult to resolve and can all too easily undermine collaboration (Atwal and Caldwell 2005). In addition, many students mentioned the problem of having insufficient time to collaborate along with issues of trust, a finding consistent with other studies (Watkin et al 2009). Policy-makers were perceived as being motivated largely by the need to reduce costs and reinforce managerial imperatives, a finding that has emerged in other studies and further justifies the need for a critical approach to collaboration (see Huxley et al 2005;Saario and Stepney 2009;Stepney and Davis 2004).…”

“…This would help to counteract the belief that "awareness of different roles does not appear to have changed since Huntington published her study [in 1981] of general practice and social work" (Kharicha et al 2005, 404) and remains an impediment to breaking down the "Berlin Wall" between health and social care (Lymbery 2005). It has been found that positive contact and learning about each other can improve attitudes to interprofessional working (Watkin et al 2009). Consequently, the module consisted of an integrated programme of lectures and seminar group working, where students were expected to apply theoretical perspectives to critically analyse opportunities for collaborative working in practice.…”

Interprofessional Collaboration in the Detection of and Early Intervention in Child Maltreatment: Employees' Experiences

“…Similar results were obtained by Ødegård [30] in a study of children's mental health care where employees used nearly half their working day on collaboration. It is clear that the development of good collaboration calls for time and discussions [12, 14, 25, 26, 37]. …”

“…In earlier research, it has been shown that the detection of and early intervention in child maltreatment call for interprofessional collaboration [2, 9] to pool the knowledge, competencies, and resources of employees. In addition, separate agencies, workplace cultures and tasks require competence in interprofessional collaboration [10–14]. Interprofessional services for children and families related to the detection of and intervention in child maltreatment are organized with different methods on both the national and international level.…”