Interprofessional primary care practice including social workers: exploring the experiences of patients in vulnerable situations

ABSTRACT

The link between social inequality and health has been widely recognized, as there are systematic differences in health between people from lower and higher social classes. Furthermore, the complexity and multidimensionality of health and social problems has resulted in primary health care services that are increasingly integrating the approach of interprofessional collaboration between medical professionals and social workers. Despite this current focus, there is a lack of empirical insights into patients’ experience of the quality of care resulting from these collaborations. This paper aims to contribute to knowledge by adopting a research approach that captures the narratives of patients in vulnerable situations from a primary care center by conducting semi-structured interviews. Through content analysis, data was analyzed according to five themes: (1) availability, (2) accessibility, (3) affordability, (4) comprehensibility, and (5) usefulness. The results suggest a positive role for interprofessional collaboration between medical professionals and social workers within a primary health care setting. This includes the opportunity for giving greater attention to social rights and collaboration within the local community.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional
• patient experiences
• social work
• health care
• primary care

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Nele Feryn

Nele Feryn is a PhD student at the Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy at Ghent University (Belgium). Her research has particular interest in the integration of social work in primary health care settings.

Joris De Corte

Joris De Corte is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Social Work & Social Pedagogy at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (Ghent University). His main research and teaching interests are linked to inter-organizational collaboration, the accessibility of social welfare provision, advocacy and the political role of social work.

Rudi Roose

Rudi Roose is associate professor of social work at the Department of Social Work & Social Pedagogy at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (Ghent University). His research interest is the development of socially just social work in managerial contexts.