1. Chapter 1 Key concepts of interprofessional working

2. Learning outcomes
Identify the key concepts of effective interprofessional working.
Explain the term ‘interprofessional’.
Be aware of the different organizational levels at which health and social care professionals are required to work together to provide effective delivery of care to the patient and their family and carers.

3. Factors required for interprofessional working
Institutional support
Working culture
Environment

4. Three sets of concepts (Rawson, 1994) for the term interprofessional
Problematic association: inter/multi/trans
2. Grouping: professional/occupational/disciplinary/sectoral/ agency
3. Focus of operations: work/teamwork/collaboration/ cooperation/integration.

5. Problematic association
Inter: ‘between, among; mutually; reciprocally’ (Oxford Dictionaries, 2012)
‘denotes relationships both between and among the elements and further implies some notion of reciprocal operations’ (Rawson, 1994, p. 40)
Multi: ‘more than one, many’ (Oxford Dictionaries, 2012)
‘implies many and some form of composition but does not immediately suggest any give and take [within the group]’ (Rawson, 1994, p. 40)
Trans: ‘across, beyond; through’ (Oxford Dictionaries, 2012)
‘signifies relationships across or beyond but does not carry any indication of mutuality’ (Rawson, 1994, p. 40)

6. Grouping
Professional: ‘relating to or belonging to a profession’ (Oxford Dictionaries, 2012).
Being a professional person is associated with particular distinctive features, which include:
membership of a restricted and regulated professional association, for example, Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), Health Professions Council (HPC), General Medical Council (GMC).
having a great deal of autonomy
mastery of a specific body of knowledge, skills and expertise
an extensive period of education and training prior to practising
a philosophy of public service and altruism.

7. Grouping
Occupational: This is a broader term than ‘professional’, which leaves out the strong identity denoted by the term ‘professional’.
Disciplinary: The noun ‘discipline’ is defined as ‘a branch of knowledge, especially one studied in higher education’ (Oxford Dictionaries, 2012). A narrower term than professional.

8. Grouping
Sectoral: The noun ‘sector’ refers to ‘an area or portion that is distinct from others, a distinct part of an economy, society or sphere of activity such as education’ (Oxford Dictionaries, 2012).
‘Sectoral’ refers to an organisational feature rather than a group of people
Agency: ‘a business or organisation providing a particular service on behalf of another business, person or group (Oxford Dictionaries, 2012).
‘Agency’, like ‘sectoral’, is referring to an organisational feature.
It is a narrower term than ‘sectoral’, and its definition implies that there may be a number of agencies within a sector.

9. Focus of operations
Collaboration: ‘the action of working with someone to produce something (Oxford Dictionaries, 2012)
Cooperation: ‘the action or process of working together to the same end (Oxford Dictionaries, 2012).
Teamwork: ‘Teamwork is a dynamic process involving two or more healthcare professionals with complementary backgrounds and skills, sharing common health goals and exercising concerted physical and mental effort in assessing, planning, or evaluating patient care’ (Xyichis & Ream, 2008).

10. What does the term ‘interprofessional’ mean?
Occurs when two or more professions learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care.
Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE, 2002)

11. Multiprofessional
Professionals from more than one/many professions coming together but not necessarily for the mutual benefit of the professionals involved.

12. What have you learnt? Try answering the following questions:
What are the three mechanisms that need to be in place if interprofessional working is to be successful?
What is the difference between interprofessional working and multiprofessional working?
What is interprofessional education?
What is interagency working?
If you can’t answer any of the above read Chapter 1 and/or review this PowerPoint presentation.