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<p>A multi professional team use different professional skills to a specific target. The people in the team complement each other to achieve the best performance possible. Professional identity is a mix between the professional and personal identity. Social identities, like professional identity, is a product of social categorization and social comparison. The purpose of this study was to examine how increased cooperation in cross-disciplinary teams has affected the professional identity of home care staff. The method I used to gather my material were focus groups with home care staff in relation to their workplace. Five focus groups were conducted and formed the basis of the results. I used parts of and got inspired from the hermeneutic approach in the analysis of my empirical findings. The results were interpreted by the social identity theory and the concepts of identity, professional identity and the dual task. The results show that home care staff finds it difficult to describe what their role is in the profession. The team's work has affected the staff to feel stronger in their profession and occupation. They have been able to learn from the other team members and have got a deeper understanding of the other team member’s profession. They also believe that the home care staff group has become more of a united group now that they know more about each other's work, work more equal and have more discussions within the group. Home care staff professional identity has been influenced, as all work within the team goes toward a common explicit goal. This has made stronger professional identity within the group and they can identify themselves more with each other. The teams work towards the common goal has also contributed to that they experience cooperation, understanding and affinity with the other team members. This has broadened their professional identity and they have become part of a new group - the team.</p>

A multi professional team use different professional skills to a specific target. The people in the team complement each other to achieve the best performance possible. Professional identity is a mix between the professional and personal identity. Social identities, like professional identity, is a product of social categorization and social comparison. The purpose of this study was to examine how increased cooperation in cross-disciplinary teams has affected the professional identity of home care staff. The method I used to gather my material were focus groups with home care staff in relation to their workplace. Five focus groups were conducted and formed the basis of the results. I used parts of and got inspired from the hermeneutic approach in the analysis of my empirical findings. The results were interpreted by the social identity theory and the concepts of identity, professional identity and the dual task. The results show that home care staff finds it difficult to describe what their role is in the profession. The team's work has affected the staff to feel stronger in their profession and occupation. They have been able to learn from the other team members and have got a deeper understanding of the other team member’s profession. They also believe that the home care staff group has become more of a united group now that they know more about each other's work, work more equal and have more discussions within the group. Home care staff professional identity has been influenced, as all work within the team goes toward a common explicit goal. This has made stronger professional identity within the group and they can identify themselves more with each other. The teams work towards the common goal has also contributed to that they experience cooperation, understanding and affinity with the other team members. This has broadened their professional identity and they have become part of a new group - the team.

The focus of this study was to explore how Clinical Psychologists narrate their experience of relatedness within a multi-disciplinary team. Mental health services in the UK are facing increased financial pressure and a necessity for all professionals to justify their role. In this context value often appears to be placed on the cheapest way of providing individual, independent care for clients rather than on the relational value of job satisfaction, joint working and therapeutic relationships. The aim of this study was to explore the experience of Clinical Psychologists and through this contribute to thinking around collaborative and interdisciplinary working. This study was guided by eight individual semi-structured interviews which were conducted with Clinical Psychologists who work in Multi-Disciplinary working age adult Community Mental Health Teams and explored using Narrative Analysis. The participants consisted of seven females and one male who had been qualified between three and fifteen years and were working at various pay bands between 7 and 8c. Four relational narratives were found. These were connections to the self of the psychologist, connections to clients, connections with colleagues and connections with the system. The first relational aspect was how the Clinical Psychologists in this study storied their ability to remain connected to their own humanity and their personal values within the context of their Multi-Disciplinary Teams. The second level involved the stories about relationships and connections with clients, particularly thinking about the perceived impact and consequences of the other relational levels for the clients and their safety. The third relational aspect was the stories that Clinical Psychologists told about their sense of relatedness to their colleagues within their teams and the importance of having time available for this. Finally, the fourth level, which was evident within all the other relationships, was of the impact of the wider system and context. These stories emerged from the analysis process with the understanding that the interviews were co-constructed and represented multiple voices. This study confirmed that despite a history of both research and legislation highlighting the benefits and values of inter-professional working and compassion the reality remains elusive. To achieve these aims there needs to be a shift in focus from short-term planning evaluating efficiency in relation only to perceived financial value, to thinking more widely and long-term about relational value. There is a need for investment and recognition of the aspects of team working that are less easy to quantify financially. Further research could explore the experience of other professional groups within CMHTs, and other MDTs, and of clients. This would give a voice to individuals who did not have an explicit voice in this research.

In South Africa music therapy as a profession is still in its infancy and not yet firmly established, hence music therapists have struggled in the past to secure full-time employment. It is important to ascertain the current state of music therapy in Tshwane as this will offer suggestions about what needs to be addressed in the future. In this project two research questions were explored: 1. What are the experiences of music therapists, as well as the perceptions of other professionals working in the health and education sectors in Tshwane, regarding music therapy as a profession? 2. What do these experiences and perceptions suggest about the current state of the music therapy profession in Tshwane? This research project used questionnaires to generate data pertaining to the experiences of music therapists and perceptions of allied professionals about the music therapy profession in Tshwane. The experiences of music therapists currently practising in Tshwane shed light on the present situation of music therapy in Tshwane. The allied professionals’ perceptions of music therapy had implications regarding the recognition of the profession which impacts directly on the availability of jobs, funding and resources available to music therapists. Questionnaires generated both quantitative and qualitative data through the use of closed questions that were analysed using descriptive statistics that were generalised and openended questions analysed through the process of coding and categorising for emerging themes that were discussed. Results obtained from the questionnaires indicated that not enough is being done to promote the field as music therapist respondents (n=4) do not create or set up new music therapy employment. This accounts for the fact that at present other professionals working in the health and education sectors (n=27) have a varied understanding of what music therapy comprises. Because of this varied understanding music therapy is not always valued by these professionals. Collaboration with allied professionals was an important theme which recurred throughout the data and seems to have been the most successful way of furthering the profession so far in Tshwane. By promoting music therapy, especially through collaboration with others, awareness of music therapy should be enhanced, others’ knowledge and understanding of music therapy may be expanded and music therapy may ultimately find its valued place among other therapeutic interventions. / Mini Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / gm2014 / Music / Unrestricted

Research have revealed that the accounting profession engage multi-disciplinary teams in the assurance of sustainability reports. However, how such teams are composed or the values that these teams bring to the assurance engagement process, and how reliance is established on the work performed by such teams has been left uncovered. This research sought to fill this gap, and hence, contributed to providing an understanding surrounding this issue. Semi-structured interviews with auditors from the Big Four Audit firms, engaged with performing sustainability assurance was conducted. The findings revealed that the engagement of multi-disciplinary teams, comprising both financial accountants and sustainability specialists from various disciplines, was necessary in ensuring quality assurance work performance. Firstly, the in-depth knowledge of sustainability subject matters possessed by the sustainability experts, enabled the questioning of the correctness of sustainability items reported by the clients. Secondly, sustainability experts were valuable in the planning stage of the engagement, in identifying client risk areas. Thirdly, sustainability expert involvement, enabled the winning of work contracts. Additionally, the engagement of multi-disciplinary teams was revealed to be valuable to the client firms. Firstly, the sustainability experts assisted clients in identifying the most valuable issues to report to their stakeholders. Secondly, due to the expert’s knowledge and experience, it enabled them to inform clients on high reporting levels. Finally, sustainability experts provided clients with valuable feedback that aids the improvement of the client processes, and the management of risks. The establishment of reliance on the work performed by the teams, requiring an accountant to signoff every engagement work performed by the team, as required by the applicable assurance standards, was partially supported by this study. Sustainability experts, who were non-accountants, was revealed to be engaged in this signing off ritual, hence, leaving room for the questioning of such assurance engagements signed off by sustainability experts.