Integrated working focuses on enabling, and encouraging professionals to work together effectively, to deliver frontline services. It is achieved through collaboration and coordination, at all levels, and across all agencies . It is used so there is a greater degree of structural integration and this therefore benefits the service user. It is based around the needs and choices of the individual and is focused on the prevention of admission to hospital or the dependency of long term care. There are many reasons as to why integrated working is a good thing.
Evidence that I have found, both from course materials, and from other sources, show immediate intervention, effective leadership, a shared vision, mutual trust and interpersonal relationships, effective and regular communication, and also decisions being made collectively, are the biggest benefits to that of integrated working. For integrated working to be effective and worthwhile, many things need to be incorporated and put in place. I will summarise these below. •Have a clear set of objectives •Have an agreed and achievable set of objectives Having multi-agency management to ensure smooth running •Have a high level of organisational commitment •If possible, use those who have most experience in integrated working to participate •Have adequate resources and good administrative support •If possible, work with agencies that you have been successful with before. •Be aware of the up to date use of Information technology, and that of sharing relevant information •Ensure policies and procedures are fully adhered to, and always ensure they are fully up to date •Ensure that full rust and responsibility from all agencies are present at all times (Roe, 2007) This leads me on to my first article. The first article I have chosen is Changing stress while stressing change: The role of inter-professional education in mediating stress in the introduction of a trans-formative technology . This study was used to explore the potential of an inter-professional education approach to mediating stress. There were three types of professionals who were used for this study. They were oncologists, physicists and therapists from radiation medicine.
The Term Paper on Integrated and Collaborative Working
... The benefits of integrated working are enormous as all professionals implement a holistic approach, and working in partnership creates better quality services. Integrated working ensures early identification ... ensure that as much information is shared with all agencies involved, the importance of this cannot be stressed enough. How little knowledge some professionals ...
Fourteen interviews were carried out and participants’ all noted their stresses in understanding and adapting to new technology. The use of inter-professional education was used to offer common terminology to all three groups, alongside an appreciation for one another’s knowledge, and lastly, a holistic framework for practice. The first major barrier to integrated working that I came across in this study, was that, not appreciating, or making use of each other’s knowledge base was perceived as stressful and this lead to inefficiencies, or shortcomings in practice.
This means that the three professional respondents in this study did not allow themselves to become familiar or learn the other participants’ correct terminology that they used and understood in their everyday work. This held the three parties back considerably, and lead to much more stress in their own job, and that in the aspect of integrated working. Howarth et al (cited in The Open University, 2010, p. 78) found, that for integrated working across different professions and agencies to work effectively, there must be an awareness of the individual role, and expected input of that certain team member was also essential .
To overcome this barrier, collaboration is the key. Lacey (cited in The Open University, 2010, p. 80) tells us this includes sharing information, building relationships based on the knowledge, experience and expertise of different team members, joint assessments for all parties and also shared training . Another barrier to integrated working in the study was that, of the distribution of responsibility, for applying the knowledge of the new technology. Due to different job roles and different training for their own roles, there are different levels of expertise.
The Homework on Team Working
1.2Agree realistic objectives for working together and identify what needs to be done to achieve them Objectives set to Cover Supervisor team by our line manager include: oProvide suitable cover to lessons when a teacher is absent. oHand completed work back to staff appropriately with explanation of any issues taking place. oWhen available provide support to the Learning Support Unit. The Cover ...
Most participants concluded new technology would necessitate a redistribution of their roles. No one was sure, as to who was responsible for what, and this lead to inefficiencies, which in turn, lead to further stress. This shows that there had never been leadership within the group, and without leadership no final decisions had been made . Druskat and Wheeler (2003) found that persuasion; which occurred when leaders worked to influence team members, to get their priorities so that supported their goals . This allowed team leaders to empower their teams and generate the necessary resources to reach those goals and finish the job successfully.
This is an ideal way of overcoming the barriers that I have discussed. This would guarantee results. Another way to overcome these barriers would be for the team make decisions collectively . Another meaning for this is collaborate decision making. Using this ensures that no decision, is any longer attributable, to any single team member. This not only strengthens the team as a whole, but will ensure that the integrated working is successful, because if it is not, they are all as equally responsible as another, and they would not want to be responsible for going wrong .
The second article I have chosen is Language, power and implications for inter-professional collaboration: Reflections on a transitions form. This journal is based around a 45 year old South Asian woman (Dee), who lives in social housing, with 2 children, and has badly maintained diabetes. She has little money and is living below the bread line, unable to meet rent payments, and heavily relies on a local food bank to make up for financial shortfall. Due to Dee having so little money, she is stretching her medication for her diabetes to one tablet every second day.
Doing this she has left herself with nerve damage in her feet and without maintaining sugar control, she is at huge risk of more long term damage. The first barrier in this journal is the issues of conflict that arise from the use of power inherent to hierarchically constructed health care teams . This means that those who have the most power, see themselves as being most powerful and the most important, and do not see themselves on a par with the professionals who are in lower grade job working below them.
The Essay on Boundaries And Working With Other Professionals
1.1 How teachers work within professional boundaries and how to work with other professionals who support learners (Part 2) It is important to maintain professional boundaries by knowing where your role as a teacher or trainer stops. Knowing your limits, which may be set out by school/college policies, as well as government legislation will assist you within your role as a teacher/trainer. ...
In order for integrated working to be successful, all members must work together and have the same vision for the end product . It should not matter who is highest paid, or who is the most qualified. Integrated working is about getting the job done, efficiently, effectively and thoroughly and this will only be managed when all team members do their designated tasks to enable the team to move forward and get the job done. Finn et al. , (cited in The Open University, 2010, p. 88) shows a perfect example of this scenario in his study.
He was speaking to a nurse and she told him that morale in the workplace was at an all-time low. Those in higher power positions, such as anaesthetists, came across as arrogant and obnoxious and treated staff below them with high disregard and contempt. This clearly undermined the role of that nurse. In this situation integrated working did not appear to be working at all. To overcome this barrier those with more power could start treating those below them with more respect. Sometimes that is all that it takes.
From that the nurses and anaesthetists can build a solid relationship and trust will be formed. The second barrier in this journal would be the use of language that associated team members would use, whilst talking about the service user. Depending on whether the person needed health care or social care, they would be referred to as ‘patients’, or ‘clients’. (Jabbar, 2011) speaks of the transitioning from social work into her medical training. She found throughout the process that use of language was a form of power for the professional people she came into contact with.
She found at The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto participated in inter-professional education (IPE).
This was used to teach students understand the scope of other professions. IPE was used to improve the knowledge among health professionals about the roles and responsibilities of how others worked. It was assumed this would decrease conflict within inter-professional teams. Jabbar however, found that this alone was not enough. When power and hierarchy became an involved, many other issues became apparent and this lead to a lot of frustration and misunderstanding.
The Essay on Professionals Work Mis Information Technology
Technology in Information Systems. These days, information resources have developed tremendously especially with the latest technology available. One way to manage them is by having a system that used to be called Management Information Systems (MIS). Nowadays, the terminology of Information Technology (IT) is widely used. IT has developed into a popular and a well paying job entering the 21 st ...
Whilst researching this assignment, both in my reading material, and participation in my online activities, I came across many different barriers and benefits, to integrated working. Firstly, I feel power was definitely more prominent than other important factors. Course materials showed that power can not only be a barrier, but it can also be a benefit. This, of course, depended on what I was reading at any given time, but overall power mostly prevailed. Benefits for power were that of leadership and control. Barriers for power were seen in the case study of my first journal.
Three levels of professionals were included and one was never aware of what the other was doing, or what they should be doing. That is the reason why integrated working did not work for them. (Gillan et al. , 2010 ) There is evidence to suggest that trust is another very important element of integrated working and its success. Rost and Smith (cited in The Open University 2010) devised an idea named, ‘the five c’s of credibility’. The five C’s are character, competence, courage, care and composure. Rost and smith felt that, the more credibility someone or something had, the more support other would give them.
I feel this was definitely relevant to both my journal articles as when the five C’s were all apparent and being used in that situation, it made a decision to the overall outcome . To summarise integrated working and the two journals which I chose, it seems from the materials, that to enable full multi-disciplinary agencies and to have 100% competence there are many factors to be considered. It is not as simple as it sounds. There needs to be commitment, high standards, trust and of course the ability to be able to work in this way.
