Interprofessional collaboration to support patients with social problems in general practice-a qualitative focus...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare systems research
• Interprofessional collaboration
• Social determinants of health

Background:

• Social problems significantly impact patient health and disease management in general practice.
• General practitioners (GPs) lack direct access to social care services (SCS).
• Limited interaction between social and health care systems hinders collaboration between social professionals (SPs) and GPs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore GPs' and SPs' perspectives on addressing patients' social problems.
• To identify barriers and facilitators for interprofessional collaboration between GPs and SPs.
• To develop a model for systematic interprofessional collaboration between GPs and SPs.

Main Methods:

• Participatory sequential qualitative study design.
• Two focus groups with GPs, two with SPs, and two mixed-professional focus groups.
• Qualitative content analysis using inductive and deductive categories.

Main Results:

• GPs see themselves as the primary contact for patients' social issues and desire support.
• SPs are willing to provide support for persistent social problems.
• A nine-strategy stepped care implementation model for GP-SP cooperation was developed.

Conclusions:

• The proposed stepped care model offers a feasible approach for collaborative patient care.
• Systematic cooperation can improve medical treatment for patients with social problems.
• GPs and SPs are prepared to generate evidence for policymakers through RCTs.