Elisabeth Willumsen

Interprofessional collaboration – a matter of differentiation and integration? Theoretical reflections based in the context of Norwegian childcare

This paper presents a selection of theoretical approaches illuminating some aspects of interprofessional collaboration, which will be related to theory of contingency as well as to the concepts of differentiation and integration. Theories that describe collaboration on an interpersonal as well as inter-organizational level are outlined and related to dynamic and contextual factors. Implications for the organization of welfare services are elucidated and a categorization of internal and external collaborative forms is proposed. A reflection model is presented in order to analyse the degree of integration in collaborative work and may serve as an analytical tool for addressing the linkage between different levels of collaboration and identifying opportunities and limitations. Some implications related to the legal mandate(s) given to childcare agencies are discussed in relation to the context of childcare in Norway.

A conceptual framework for assessing interorganizational integration and interprofessional collaboration

The need for collaboration in health and social welfare is well documented internationally. It is related to the improvement of services for the users, particularly target groups with multiple problems. However, there is still insufficient knowledge of the complex area of collaboration, and the interprofessional literature highlights the need to develop adequate research approaches for exploring collaboration between organizations, professionals and service users. This paper proposes a conceptual framework based on interorganizational and interprofessional research, with focus on the concepts of integration and collaboration. Furthermore, the paper suggests how two measurement instruments can be combined and adapted to the welfare context in order to explore collaboration between organizations, professionals and service users, thereby contributing to knowledge development and policy improvement. Issues concerning reliability, validity and design alternatives, as well as the importance of management, clinical implications and service user involvement in future research, are discussed.

The Child as Co-researcher—Moral and Epistemological Issues in Childhood Research

This article discusses whether a child can and should be engaged as a co-researcher on moral and epistemological grounds. Selected research literature has been used to illustrate various approaches to the issue of childrens participating as co-researchers in social research. By exploring the predicament of childhood and the meaning of the concept ‘research’, we attempt to clarify the necessary conditions for a person to qualify as a researcher and for an activity to qualify as research. We then look at the extent to which the concept of ‘child’ fits within these frames.

Telling Tales of the Unexpected

This chapter is mainly built on a research study from my PhD project “Interprofessional collaboration in residential child care” (Willumsen 2006), which was in public health science and social work. During the study, I conducted several qualitative interviews with professionals and with the parents of young people in residential child care. These young people suffered from serious psychosocial conditions that created personal, family, and societal problems. The narrative I present in this chapter was part of an interview with a father. The text contains analysis and reflections on his story.

Collaborative practices between correctional and mental health services in Norway: Expanding the roles and responsibility competence domain

ABSTRACT Internationally, mental illness is high in prison populations. Collaboration between the correctional services (CS) and mental health services (MHS) is required to address this. Little is known of the collaborative processes in this context, however. This article presents the findings of a study exploring the characteristics of collaborative practices between the MHS and CS in a Norwegian context. A purposeful sample (n = 12) of MHS and CS leaders was recruited from one region in Norway. Taking a generic qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews with each participant explored specific structures that promoted collaboration, the nature of collaborative relationships, and factors that facilitated or constrained these. The study indicated that leaders are exercised by one dimension of collaborative practice in particular, namely the distribution of responsibility for the care of the offender across systems. This activity is mediated by highly complex external structures as well as the individual characteristics of the professionals involved. They speculate that professionals and organisations who fail to take responsibility for the offender as expected may be constrained from doing so by resource limitations, logistical issues, and poor attitudes towards the offender population. Based on these findings, this study suggests that the MHS and CS workforce would benefit from a great knowledgeability of the roles and responsibility domains of collaborative practice. Improving competence in the workforce in this area would achieve this. However, competency frameworks that address this domain are currently limited. Recommendations on how to extend the remit of this domain in light of the current findings are provided.

Using Social Innovation as a Theoretical Framework to Guide Future Thinking on Facilitating Collaboration Between Mental Health and Criminal Justice Services

Offender mental health is a major societal challenge. Improved collaboration between mental health and criminal justice services is required to address this challenge. This article explores social innovation as a conceptual framework with which to view these collaborations and develop theoretically informed strategies to optimize interorganizational working. Two key innovation frameworks are applied to the offender mental health field and practice illustrations provided of where new innovations in collaboration, and specifically co-creation between the mental health system and criminal justice system, take place. The article recommends the development of a competency framework for leaders and front line staff in the mental health system and criminal justice systems to raise awareness and skills in the innovation process, especially through co-creation across organizational boundaries.

Lederen som innovatør og balansekunstner : en kvalitativ studie av lederes erfaringer fra forskningssamarbeid mellom helse- og velferdstjenestene og høyere utdanning

The manager as innovator and equilibrist: a qualitative study of the experiences of Norwegian managers in health and welfare service taking part in research partnership with higher education Managers in health and welfare services have overall responsibility to develop the services according to official regulations and the needs of society. They are expected to provide high quality, research based services. Higher education is expected to transform education and research that improve the services, and to develop research collaborating with the practical field. This study investigates experiences of managers in health and welfare services taking part in research collaboration with higher education. Data were collected through focus group interviews with altogether 14 participants involved in 21 projects, and analysed by using qualitative content analyses. The experiences of the managers can be summarised as “Being an innovator and equilibrist in order to develop the service”. Managers appear to play an important role in bridging between health and welfare services and higher education. In order to enhance research partnerships between health and welfare services and higher education formal collaborative structures should be established.

Learning together as a Nordic interprofessional research group: glimpses of understanding.

Undertaking research for a higher degree can be lonely unless and until, as we did, you form a self-help group. We had got to know each other at The Nordic Interprofessional Network (Nipnet) conferences where we had discovered that we were each in the early stages of licentiate or doctoral studies into aspects of interprofessional learning or working. Brief oneto-one exchanges paved the way for a longer group discussion when one of us invited the others to her summer cottage to learn more about each other’s projects. So productive was the meeting that we met again every six to twelve months until four years later when all of us had successfully defended our theses. We invited Professor Hugh Barr, who was already supervising one of us at Bergen University and had been our guest, to be our mentor. Enjoying one last glimpse of the Geiranger Fjord through the mountains, we named ourselves the Glimpse Group, a metaphor that was to prove apt. Three of us were from Norway and one from Sweden from four different professions, preferring different theoretical perspectives and employing different research methods. Each workshop was planned in advance during an hour-long teleconference. We each then circulated a paper on the matters that we wanted to discuss, to be read in advance and then presented at the workshop as part of a report on progress since we last met. Help, however challenging, was invariably forthcoming in an atmosphere that was as stimulating as it was supportive. Discussions focused on theoretical and methodological issues, and the research and publication process, within the context of our growing understanding of interprofessional learning and working informed by external perspectives introduced by Hugh Barr. Venues for the workshops included our summer cottages, where we bonded as we prepared meals together and enjoyed wonderful walks. Discussions became more relaxed, more reflective and more personal. Other meetings were in hotel bedrooms before, during or after interprofessional conferences.