The proof of the pudding: What difference does multi‐agency working make to families with disabled children with complex health care needs?

Abstract

More than 20 years of research with disabled children, young people and their families has highlighted the need for the different professionals and services that support them to work more closely together. The British policy and legal framework for ‘joined up working’ has never been stronger. However, there has been an assumption that multi‐ or inter‐agency working will inevitably be a ‘good thing’ for families. This paper discusses findings from a 3‐year research project which looked at both the process and impact of multi‐agency working on families with a disabled child with complex health care needs. Interviews with 25 parents and 18 children and young people who used six developed, multi‐agency services were carried out. Findings suggested that the services had made a big difference to the health care needs of disabled children but were less able to meet the wider needs of the child and the family – particularly in relation to social and emotional needs. Multi‐agency working appeared to make some positive, but not significant, differences to the lives of families.

Nurse–physician collaboration: a meta-analytical investigation of survey scores

“…Given the strong emphasis on common education in healthcare, raised in the last decade, this result seems to indicate that further work is needed to train students to go beyond the confines of their own discipline (e.g. Abbot, Watson, & Townsley, 2005). This seems to be more urgent for medical students, who are still trained to be independent and autonomous (Atwal & Caldwell, 2005).…”

Dilemmas of Inter‐Professional Collaboration: Can they be Resolved?

“…Dilemmas around role occur in situations where professionals face conflict about roles that do not use their area of specialist expertise, as well as where professionals feel that their expertise and knowledge is devalued when less‐qualified individuals take on specialist roles. Adopting a more generic role in a team can help practitioners overcome professional boundaries (Abbot and others, 2005), but doing tasks that are generic or outside one’s area of expertise can be problematic. Generic tasks are often important in multi‐agency teams; but with a team of specialists, there may be reluctance to undertake such tasks.…”

Service user perspectives of multiagency working: a qualitative study with children with educational and mental health difficulties and their parents

“…In a study by Mitchell and Sloper (), children and young people with a disability especially valued staff attitudes and sensitivity, irrespective of their agency, while all wished for more choice making. Furthermore, multiagency working has been viewed positively by disabled children and their families, despite not making a significant difference to their lives (Abbott, Watson, & Townsley, ). Families of children with complex health needs identified best multiagency practice that includes clear information, decision making, communication, accessibility, collaboration, respect and a joint vision with professionals (Carter, Cummings, & Cooper, ).…”