Linking interprofessional work to outcomes for employees: A meta-analysis.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Occupational Health Psychology
• Social Work

Background:

• Interprofessional work is increasingly recognized as crucial in health and social care.
• Understanding its impact on employee outcomes is vital for workforce well-being and service quality.
• Previous research has yielded mixed findings, necessitating a comprehensive synthesis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To meta-analyze the relationship between interprofessional work and employee outcomes in health and social care.
• To examine job stress, autonomy, burnout, engagement, job satisfaction, turnover intention, and perceived service quality.
• To investigate the moderating influence of different factors on these relationships.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of PsycInfo, Embase, Medline, and CINAHL databases.
• Meta-analysis of 45 articles representing 53 independent samples using a random effects model.
• Categorization of interprofessional work into teamwork, collaboration, and cooperation.

Main Results:

• Interprofessional work showed weak negative associations with job stress, burnout, and turnover intention (mean r = -.13 to -.22).
• Moderate positive associations were found with autonomy, engagement, job satisfaction, and perceived service quality (mean r = .33 to .46).
• Teamwork, the most intensive form, was linked to lower burnout and turnover intention.

Conclusions:

• Interprofessional work is positively associated with enhanced employee well-being in the health and social care sector.
• Specific forms of interprofessional engagement, like teamwork, yield significant benefits.
• Findings support the promotion of interprofessional collaboration to improve both employee outcomes and service quality.