Perceptions of collaborative relationships between seven different health care professions in Northern Italy

ABSTRACT

This article presents quantitative findings from a mixed method study that aimed to explore the status quo of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) in a Health Trust, located in a trilingual region in Northern Italy. The survey targeted seven health professions (physicians, nurses, dieticians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, and psychologists). The survey was distributed online to more than 5,000 health professionals and completed by 2,238. This paper presents results on the frequency of collaboration as well as data from a multiple-group measurement scale for assessing IPC. Descriptive statistics were calculated for continuous variables while categorical data were analysed as counts and percentages. Pearson’s Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were calculated while Mann Whitney and Kruskal Wallis tests were applied to analyse statistical differences in IPC between groups according to sociodemographic variables. In general, our survey data showed that participants, perceived IPC in a positive way, even if the analysis indicated heterogeneity in the level of collaboration expressed. We also found that not all professions had an opportunity to collaborate with others. In addition, we found evidence to suggest that the way health care is organised impacted on perceptions of collaboration between the health professionals in this study. This study provides an initial insight into the perceived levels of IPC within a North Italian context. As such, it offers an account of the strengths and weaknesses of IPC from seven different professional groups based in this region of Europe.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional collaboration
• mixed methods
• survey
• IPC Scale
• health professions
• quantitative analysis

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Board of the College of Health Care professions, Claudiana, Bozen as well as the former scientific leaders in supporting the research team and giving it the necessary time for writing up the research results and supporting the dissemination process.

Disclosure Statement

The authors report no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

1. In this paper we have defined IPC as “when individuals from different health professions communicate and make decisions about a patient’s health care based on shared knowledge and skills” (Barr, Koppel, Reeves, Hammnick, & Freeth, 2005).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by a grant Agency for Promoting Higher Education, University and Research, Department of Promoting Education, University and Research of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen, South Tyrol and supported by the South Tyrolean Health Trust;Province of Bolzano/Bozen, South Tyrol;