Managing Professional Interpersonal Interactions

Specht, Harry

doi:10.1093/sw/30.3.225

“…Although the international literature on team work in health care suggests that team work may offer substantial benefits, the same literature also makes extensive reference to the problems such work generates (see, for example, Abramson and Rosenthal 1995, Clark 1994, de Silva et ai 1992, Fox 1994, Gubrium 1975, Gilgun 1988, McClelland and Sands 1993, Mellor and Solomon 1992, Paxton 1995, Roberts et al 1994, Saltz 1992, Specht 1985Toseland et al 1986, Webb andHobdell 1980).…”

Section: The Efficacy Of Team Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thinking teams thinking clients: issues of discourse and representation in the work of health care teams

Opie

¹

1997

Sociology Health & Illness

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The use of multi-disciplinary health care teams is an increasingly common aspect of service delivery in health care in Western countries. While the literature rehearses the putative benefits to practitioners and clients of such teams, there appears to be an absence of extensive evidence-based research on team practices to substantiate such claims. What evidence there is suggests that team work is in different ways problematic. This article is a progress report on a qualitative research project into the operation of health teams with responsibility for clients in hospitals and the community in New Zealand. The first part of the article presents some of the main themes in current research on health care teams. The second part argues that effective team work requires giving attention to a hitherto marginalised dimension of teamwork -the team's reflexive and representational practices. Attention to these practices appears to be particularly important in complex cases or when the team believes that its work with the client is not progressing as well as it might. The article concludes by highlighting the sociological significance of representational issues in team work and by drawing some inferences about factors affecting effective teamwork.

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“…This lack of planned collaborative learning opportunities can lead to profession-centric practitioners experiencing very limited training opportunities to explore the roles of their teammates (Pecukonis, Doyle, & Bliss, 2008), and without this mutual interprofessional understanding, meaningful communication and relationships have been found to be more difficult to develop (Hall, 2005). From a social work perspective, although clear guidelines and considerable knowledge exist about communication and management of professional-client relationships in social work education (Diggins, 2004), little attention has been given by social work educators and practice literature to the management of interaction and effective communication with other professionals (Specht, 1985). The Mental Health Commission (2010) also highlighted this as being the case in relation to social work education and practice literature in Ireland.…”

Section: Effective Collaborative Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Communication skills taught to social work students in Ireland usually focus on interactions with clients and their families from the perspective of their profession (Hall, 2005), with relatively little focus on interprofessional communication and collaboration skills (Mental Health Commission, 2010). Thus, SWs in Ireland may begin their careers with interprofessional barriers (Mental Health Commission, 2010), such as a lack of interprofessional communication, role negotiation and collaboration skills (Specht, 1985).…”

Section: Effective Collaborative Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

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Consensus or contention: an exploration of multidisciplinary team functioning in an Irish mental health context

Maddock

¹

2014

European Journal of Social Work

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Multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) are conventionally recommended in mental health care literature as an important way to offer holistic treatment provision to patients. This study aims to explore multidisciplinary teamwork in contemporary mental health settings, particularly what aids and hinders the process of multidisciplinary teamworking, and the social work contribution in such teams. In order to attain an in-depth exploration of these phenomena, a single case study design was employed. Within this design, data were generated through semi-structured interviews and structured observation of a mental health MDT in Ireland. These data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The research highlights how the concept of mental illness is contested within this MDT, with the medical model dominant within an environment of fluid working arrangements. Professional role blurring and stereotyping were found to impact the division of labour on this team, with role negotiation found to be an integral part of retaining a professional's practice identity. This research raises concerns for social work's capacity to function within mental health MDTs in Ireland, and highlights ways in which social work educators might respond in order to empower Irish social workers to meet the challenges of mental health multidisciplinary teamworking.

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“…Although the international literature on team work in health care suggests that team work may offer substantial benefits, the same literature also makes extensive reference to the problems such work generates (see, for example, Abramson and Rosenthal 1995, Clark 1994, de Silva et ai 1992, Fox 1994, Gubrium 1975, Gilgun 1988, McClelland and Sands 1993, Mellor and Solomon 1992, Paxton 1995, Roberts et al 1994, Saltz 1992, Specht 1985Toseland et al 1986, Webb andHobdell 1980).…”

Section: The Efficacy Of Team Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thinking teams thinking clients: issues of discourse and representation in the work of health care teams.

Opie¹

1997

Sociol Health & Illness

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The use of multi-disciplinary health care teams is an increasingly common aspect of service delivery in health care in Western countries. While the literature rehearses the putative benefits to practitioners and clients of such teams, there appears to be an absence of extensive evidence-based research on team practices to substantiate such claims. What evidence there is suggests that team work is in different ways problematic. This article is a progress report on a qualitative research project into the operation of health teams with responsibility for clients in hospitals and the community in New Zealand. The first part of the article presents some of the main themes in current research on health care teams. The second part argues that effective team work requires giving attention to a hitherto marginalised dimension of teamwork -the team's reflexive and representational practices. Attention to these practices appears to be particularly important in complex cases or when the team believes that its work with the client is not progressing as well as it might. The article concludes by highlighting the sociological significance of representational issues in team work and by drawing some inferences about factors affecting effective teamwork.

show abstract

Managing Professional Interpersonal Interactions

Cited by 19 publications

References 8 publications

Thinking teams thinking clients: issues of discourse and representation in the work of health care teams

Thinking teams thinking clients: issues of discourse and representation in the work of health care teams

Consensus or contention: an exploration of multidisciplinary team functioning in an Irish mental health context

Thinking teams thinking clients: issues of discourse and representation in the work of health care teams.

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