1. Multi-professional Working: Cultures, Identities and Conceptualizations of Practice.
Fiona Collins

2. Research Objectives
To explore practitioner understandings of their role in a newly emerging context, in education, health and social care and the potential effect on professional identity and practice.
To capture interprofessional perspectives. How do education/health/social care practitioners perceive the roles, practice and responsibilities of other professional groups? Do tensions/alliances exist between practitioner groups and if so what influence do these have on interprofessional practice?
Building upon points 1 and 2 to investigate individual (practitioner), collective (professional group), and interprofessional (interdependent) cultures in the context of multi-agency practice to improve outcomes for young people.

3. Literature Review
Extensive research has been conducted in the fields of IPP and IPE investigating:
Types/models of collaborative working (Hudson, 2006)
Advantages/disadvantages (Moran et al, 2007)
Barriers and facilitators (Sloper, 2004)
Professional cultures (Hall, 2005)
Professional identity (Carpenter et al, 2006)
Blurring of roles/deskilling (Baxter et al, 2008)
New forms of innovative practice (Daniels et al, 2007).

4. What is Different about this Research?
National context:
New Labour Social Policy
Laming Inquiry (2003)- Reconfiguration of services
ECM-shift in emphasis
Gov rhetoric on partnership remains strong
Independent report by the Audit Commission (Oct 2008), found that although the “…foundations are in place and relationships are settling down, having Children’s Trust arrangements is not the same as improving outcomes for children.” (Are we there yet? p.39)
“Structural change cannot resolve the problems inherent in team working” (Hudson, 2005)
Research context-West Sussex ISDAs.

5. Research Method
Social Psychological –Interpretative Phenomenological Analyses (J.A.Smith)
Qualitative, exploratory approach
“unravelling the relationship between what people think (cognition), say (account) and do (behaviour)” (Breakwell et al, 2006, p.325)
Idiographic
Semi-structured interviews-small sample size.

6. Theoretical Framework
Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT)
Engestrom (2001) “third generation theory”
MATCh project Anning et al (2006)
Principles of CHAT
Historicity
Paradoxes and conflict
Multi-voicedness
Expansive Learning
Expansive transformations.

7. Where am I Going? Ethical approval Access Interviews and transcription
Data analysis and the identification of themes
Hopefully-some interesting findings!

8. References
Anning, A., Cottrell, D., Frost, N., Green, J., & Robinson, N. (2006) Developing Multiprofessional Teamwork for Integrated Children’s Services. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
The Audit Commission, (2008). Are we there yet? Available at commission.gov.uk/nationalstudies/localgov/Pages/arewethereyet.aspx
Baxter, S.K., & Brumfitt, S.M. (2008). Professional differences in interprofessional working. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 22(3),
Breakwell, G.M., Hammond, S., Fife-Schaw, C., & Smith, J.A. (Eds.). (2006). Research Methods in Psychology (3rd ed.). London: Sage.
Carpenter, J., Barnes, D., Dickinson, C., & Wooff, D. (2006) Outcomes of interprofessional education for Community Mental Health Services in England: The longitudinal evaluation of a postgraduate programme. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 20(2),
Daniels, H., & Warmington, P. (2007). Analysing third generation activity systems: power, contradictions and personal transformation. Journal of Workplace Learning,
Engestrom, Y. (2001). Expansive learning at work: toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of Education and Work, 14(1),
Hall, P. (2005). Interprofessional teamwork: Professional cultures as barriers. Journal of Interprofessional Care (Supplement 1)
Laming, H. (2003) Report of an Inquiry into the Death of Victoria Climbie. London: The Stationary Office.
Moran, P., Jacobs, C., Bunn, A., & Bifulco, A. (2007). Multi-agency working: implications for an early-intervention social work team. Child and Family Social Work, 12,
Sloper, P. (2004). Facilitators and barriers for co-ordinated multi-agency services. Child: Care, Health & Development, 30(6),

9. Thank you for listening.