Collaboration between social workers and physicians: perspectives on a shared case

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Interprofessional Education
• Social Work in Healthcare

Background:

• Healthcare restructuring necessitates effective interdisciplinary collaboration for optimal patient care and organizational viability.
• Collaboration between physicians and social workers is crucial in acute care settings.
• Understanding professional perspectives on collaboration is essential for improving healthcare delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze self-reported collaborative activities between social workers and physicians on shared cases in an acute care hospital.
• To compare the congruence of perspectives between social workers and physicians regarding collaborative processes and outcomes.
• To examine each profession's views on their own and the other's roles and responsibilities.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of self-reported views from 50 pairs of social workers and physicians.
• Examination of collaborative activities on specific shared patient cases.
• Comparison of perspective congruence within each collaborating pair.

Main Results:

• Many social worker-physician pairs reported similar perspectives on joint patient care.
• Disagreements often arose when social workers identified issues physicians did not.
• Physicians were less likely to identify patient adjustment or resource-related problems compared to social workers.
• Social workers reported lower satisfaction, perceived more potential improvements, and noted greater disagreement than physicians.

Conclusions:

• While many social worker-physician collaborations show perspective congruence, significant differences exist, particularly in problem identification and satisfaction.
• Social workers tend to perceive more challenges and potential for improvement in interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Further research and support are needed to enhance social workers' effectiveness as collaborators within interprofessional healthcare teams.