The Coordinated Individual Plan – is this a solution for complex organizations to handle complex needs?

Abstract

Persons with mental health problems and substance abuse often have complex needs requiring many kinds of help concurrently. In Sweden, an attempt has been made to counterbalance the effects of fragmentation by means of legislation on collaboration, requiring on the individual level the use of Coordinated Individual Plans (Sw. Samordnad Individuell Plan, SIP). The aim of the study is to explore collaboration as it is indicated in SIP and other case documentation with focus on how SIP is motivated, and what kind and degree of collaboration is indicated by the documentation. 12 individual case files have been studied in six local authorities and the results have been analyzed in relation to a regional collaboration agreement and local collaboration agreements. The results show unclear motivation for SIP and that SIP is primarily used for documentation of short-term planning. Use of SIP and participation in SIP appears also to be uneven. The authors characterize SIP as an unsystematic form of interagency meeting, with documentation indicating a relatively low to moderate level of collaboration. The authors question whether SIP is an optimal form for collaboration and suggest that more distinct models such as case management or multidisciplinary teams could be more effective.

In the centre or caught in the middle? – Social workers’ and healthcare professionals’ views on user involvement in Coordinated Individual Plans in Sweden

“…A CIP for an adult person with mental health problems and substance abuse can involve social workers responsible for assessment and care decisions as well as service providers, and in the healthcare sector psychiatrists, nurses, specialist doctors, general practitioners and others (Matscheck et al., 2019). In this study, social workers and healthcare professionals with these functions were interviewed.…”

“…Of these, only the authors' own studies (Matscheck & Piuva, 2020;Matscheck et al, 2019) mention user involvement. Both studies highlighted limited and uncertain documentation of user involvement.…”

“…Local social service and healthcare agencies usually use a CIP form which is filled in and signed by the participants either at the meeting or afterwards by mail. In two earlier studies (Matscheck & Piuva, 2020; Matscheck et al., 2019), the authors examined social service case file documentation for people with mental health and/or substance abuse problems. These studies indicate that CIP has achieved a limited degree of collaboration with few indications of user involvement.…”

“…There is to date little research on CIP and very few studies that address CIP in connection with mental health and substance abuse. Of these, only the authors’ own studies (Matscheck & Piuva, 2020; Matscheck et al., 2019) mention user involvement. Both studies highlighted limited and uncertain documentation of user involvement.…”

Perspectives on organizational structure and social services’ work with clients – a narrative review of 25 years research on social services

“…Several authors have pointed out that cooperation should be considered a challenge in itself (Horwath & Morrison, 2007;Ungar et al, 2012). Regarding both inter-organisational and intra-organisational cooperation between specialised actors, obstacles such as simple misunderstandings, unclear division of tasks, and struggles over the preferential right of interpretation in various cooperative situations have been noted (Hitzler & Messmer, 2010;Matscheck et al, 2019).…”