A study of collaboration inpatient treatment between the community psychiatric health services and a psychiatric hospital in Norway

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine factors that may have an influence on the collaboration between the health-care professionals in a psychiatric hospital and two communities' psychiatric health service departments. Interviews were conducted with three psychiatric nurses, one medical practitioner, one health and social manager and one cultural worker; thus a total of nine informants. The transcribed interview texts were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. The main results showed that the community psychiatric nurses felt a need for more systematic interdisciplinary collaboration. The existing collaboration was characterized by ad hoc meetings. In addition, the need for information about their colleagues' professional competence was reported. The respondents called for a more regular forum for professional guidance and coordination in relation to particular client cases in order to improve the quality of psychiatric care. There was also a need for collaboration within community health care and a link to psychiatric hospital care in order to better evaluate the outcomes of care provided. In conclusion, the lack of continuity in the collaboration between health-care professionals may affect the quality of community health services because continuity is a vital component of care.

Interprofessional Collaboration in the Mental Health Services in Norway

“…They presented several examples of how they collaborated in individual cases and pointed out the need for more systematic collaboration. This is in accordance with Holst and Severinsson [7], who found that collaboration between the municipality and hospital took the form of ad hoc meetings. The respondents underlined the need for more structured professional guidelines and collaboration in order to improve the quality of CMHC.…”

“…However, their dialogues also revealed and made them more aware of the differences between them. Meeting at a monthly forum provided an opportunity to facilitate a common understanding of their different skills, which is supported by [7]. The two teams developed a greater awareness of different types of knowledge, such as their own experiential knowledge and skills.…”

“…Availability, differentiation of treatment services, and collaboration were emphasised by Holst and Severinsson [7], who found a lack of continuity in the collaboration between CMHC and psychiatric hospital care. Different care ideologies and goals as well as inability to work together and make use of each other's competence rendered the collaboration between psychiatric care and community social services problematic [8].…”

Factors that influence collaboration between psychiatric care and CSSs: experiences of working together in the interest of persons with long‐term mental illness living in the community

“…This means communication and passing on information between staff from PC and social service is mainly based on values and experiences of the staff involved. Similarly, Holst and Severinsson (18) illuminate the importance of a more systematic interdisciplinary collaboration that may facilitate common understanding of different skills among the professionals.…”

Community psychiatric nursing in the Netherlands: a survey of a thriving but threatened profession

“…Research is mostly UK‐based but increasing in other countries (e.g. Holst & Severinsson 2003, Wallace et al. 2005, Bellali & Kalafati 2006, Elsom et al.…”