Multi-professional teamwork in human services: The mutual shaping of professional identity and team activities
2018 (English)In: Journal of Health Organization & Management, ISSN 1477-7266, E-ISSN 1758-7247, Vol. 32, no 5, p. 741-759Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Purpose – This paper investigates the prospects and difficulties of multi-professional teamwork in humanservices from a professional identity perspective. The purpose of this paper is to explore the mutual interplaybetween professional identity formation and team activities.
Design/methodology/approach – This is a process study of two cases of multi-professional teamwork infamily care. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with team members and managers. The analysisfollows a stepwise approach alternating between the individual and team levels.
Findings – In showing the mutual interplay between teamwork processes and individual identity formation,the study contributes knowledge on professional identity formation of mature professionals; in particularshowing how unique individual identification processes have different consequences for multi-professionalteam activities. Further, alternative shapes of interplay between individual identity formation and team-levelprocesses are identified.
Research limitations/implications – Despite the fact that the sample is small and that collaborationintensity was relatively low, the paper succeeds in conceptualising the links between professional identityformation and multi-professional teamwork.
Practical implications – In managing multi-professional teams, team composition and the team’s earlydevelopments seem determining for whether the team will reach its collaborative intentions.
Originality/value – This paper is original in its exploration of the ongoing interplay between individualidentity formation and multi-professional team endeavours. Further, the paper contributes knowledge onmature professionals’ identity formation, particularly concerning individual variation within and betweenprofessional groups.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2018. Vol. 32, no 5, p. 741-759
Keywords [en]
Collaboration, Professional identity, Human services, Multi-professional teamwork
National Category
Business Administration
Research subject
Business Studies; health services research
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-151505DOI: 10.1108/JHOM-03-2017-0062ISI: 000443420800007PubMedID: 30175677Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85052673311OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-151505DiVA, id: diva2:1245792
2018-09-062018-09-062023-03-24Bibliographically approved