During the past two decades interdisciplinary health care teams have come to be considered an integral component in the efficient delivery of health care. Interdisciplinary teams dealing with the increasingly complex problems of patients are now common in many health care settings. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the individual and collective impact of several group process inputs, common to interdisciplinary health care teams, on team members' appraisals of their own group process skills.

This thesis provides an account of the discussions of the "team" concept in health care literature since the early 1920s. It is argued that by adopting a historical, social constructionist stance, this thesis makes an original contribution to the literature. The research consisted of an inductive analysis of the "team" literature aiming to typify the ways in which the "team" concept has been constructed and historical, national or professional differences which have occurred. Historically, claims about "teamwork" in health care have occurred in four phases: (1) a statement of basic issues and themes; (2) the emergence of ideas of flexibility and adaptability; (3) a period of optimism; and (4) the co-existence of positive, sceptical, and critical claims. The professional and national differences in claims-making activities are also discussed. The least challenged claims about, and recent re-evaluations of, the "team" concept are also discussed. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

No description available.

Thesis (MEd)--University of South Australia, 1994

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (PhDManagement)--University of South Australia, 2005.

Thesis (PhDManagement)--University of South Australia, 2005. / A thesis submitted to the International Centre for Management and Organisational Effectiveness, Division of Business and Enterprise. University of South Australia. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 195-207).

Thesis (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

The independence of the health and social care agencies makes the coordinated delivery of inter-related and inter-dependent services very difficult. Collaboration in health and social care has been a goal of policy makers for many decades, but it has not been achieved to the degree or to the extent of the aspiration. This thesis examines collaboration in the context of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990, which marked a new stage in the development of community care policy and in collaborative working between health and social services. The thesis takes the form of a case study set in Sunderland during 1990-1994, from the passing of the Act to the first anniversary of the implementation of its community care elements. It considers firstly, collaboration at a strategic planning level between Sunderland Health Authority and the Local Authority Social Services Department in the development and implementation of community care policy; secondly, the evaluation of a collaborative project at an operational level, in the attachment of a social worker to a general medical practice; and thirdly, the evaluation of a project which tried to strengthen collaborative working within the health service, among district nurses, health visitors and general practitioners. The thesis sets these three pieces of work in a number of contexts: the political setting of the NHS and Community Care Act and the changes it introduced; the literature of collaboration; and a description of Sunderland and its need for health and social care. The case study showed how difficult it is for organisations to work together. Relationships between individuals tended to be more collaborative than relationships between corporate bodies, but it is important to see the relationship between those individuals in the context of relationships between organisations. The study also found that for the success of joint projects to be sustainable and generalisable, collaboration needs to be present at all levels of the organisations. The thesis also showed that there is as much need for collaboration within the health service as between the health and social services. The thesis used as a measure a framework of factors which promote collaboration, and found that many elements were lacking in Sunderland. However, in the real world it is necessary to settle for a notion of "pragmatic collaboration" in which joint working is possible even when full collaboration is absent.

A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2015 / Sensemaking is the process through which people construct meaning around issues or events that are novel, ambiguous, confusing, or in some regard run contrary to expectations. Drawing on key insights from the work of Karl Weick on sensemaking, the aim of this study was to explore how staff members and volunteers at a non-profit human service organisation make sense of and enact the idea of quality in their environments. The study employed an interpretive approach and took the form of a single-case holistic case study. Using thematic analysis, several themes emerged from the data, which suggest that in order to deconstruct the idea of quality, as it exists in the minds and behaviours of organisational members, it is critical to obtain insight into the social and context driven processes that influence sensemaking. The findings also suggest that existing models and approaches to quality in the literature are incomplete in terms of their lack of a sensemaking focus. Practical recommendations are made for human services organisation administrators and managers to improve and monitor quality in their respective environments. The study concludes with a discussion of limitations as well as possible avenues for future research in light of the findings