All professionals are equal but some professionals are more equal than others? Dominance,
status and efficiency in Swedish interprofessional teams
Engelsk titel: All professionals are equal but some professionals are more equal than others? Dominance,
status and efficiency in Swedish interprofessional teams
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Författare:
Thylefors, Ingela
Email: ngela.thylefors@psy.gu.se
Språk: Eng
Antal referenser: 28
Dokumenttyp:
Artikel
UI-nummer: 12093632
Sammanfattning
This study explored status differences in interprofessional teams and their link with efficiency. In total, 62 teams (423 individuals) from occupational health-care, psychiatry, rehabilitation and school health-care responded to a questionnaire. Fifty-four of those teams (360 individuals) also participated in an observation session simulating problem-solving team meetings. Data were reduced to a number of indexes: self-assessed/perceived equality, functional influence and efficiency; and observed verbal dominance/activity and problem-solving capacity. Perceived status differences within the teams appeared moderate, irrespective of professional belonging. With respect to verbal dominance during meetings, however, the findings revealed a hierarchy with psychologists, physicians and social workers at the top together with special education teachers. No relationship was found between self-assessed efficiency and actual problem-solving nor between observed verbal activity and problem-solving. The findings suggest that different problems may demand different prerequisites to be solved effectively: successful solving of simple convergent problems correlated negatively with equality, whereas functional influence was a predictor of success with respect to divergent, complex problem-solving. The findings raise questions about leadership and procedures during team meetings.
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons.