The role of interprofessional working in the Pathways to Work Condition Management Programmes

Condition Management Programmes (CMPs) were established in seven pilot sites in the UK as one strand of the Incapacity Benefit Pathways to Work programme, an initiative that exemplifies interprofessional working beyond traditional healthcare boundaries. The qualitative evaluation of the pilot sites employed a realistic evaluation approach and used focus group discussions and telephone interviews to examine stakeholders' perceptions of interprofessional working and its impact on service provision and practice. Although teething problems were experienced in establishing the interprofessional working necessary for success, a shared commitment to the CMP ethos enabled these to be largely overcome. Outstanding issues raised by participants concerned the boundaries around the CMPs' new ways of working, in particular around treatment versus self-management and around the combined health and work focus of the pilots. One of the recommendations from a recent review of the health of Britain's working population was for a drive to promote the understanding of the positive relationship between health and work. The experiences of the staff involved in the CMP pilots provides a useful insight into the benefits and difficulties experienced in relation to interprofessional working between different professional groups in this area.