Valued Yet Still Not Fully Integrated: Social Workers' Experiences Practicing in Interprofessional Primary Healthcare...

Relatively little is known about social workers in interprofessional primary healthcare (PHC) teams, despite social work being one of the largest health and social service professions. Understanding the experiences of social workers in PHC teams will help strengthen the integration of social workers in these settings. The research question guiding this study was: "What are the experiences of social workers working in interprofessional PHC teams in Ontario, Canada?" This was a descriptive qualitative study and the authors conducted focus groups with social workers embedded in PHC. Fifty-seven social workers participated in 10 focus groups that were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis guided an inductive analysis of the data. Seven themes in the data were identified: (1) social work is valued by the team, (2) social work enhances the team, (3) the pandemic disrupted team relationships, (4) team collaboration requires intention and opportunity, (5) lack of physical space, (6) limited influence on decision making, and (7) clinical supervision mitigates isolation. While social workers feel valued by their team members, opportunities to contribute to organizational decision making remain limited. Addressing the tacit hierarchies that facilitate these challenges through shared leadership practices or adoption of collaborative competency frameworks is recommended.