An evaluative study of a community health service development

Team types, perceived efficiency and team climate in Swedish cross-professional teamwork

This paper aims to identify the dominant types of team organization in cross-professional Swedish human service organizations and the relationship between team type and perceived efficiency as well as team climate as an aspect of work satisfaction. A questionnaire was responded to by 337 individual professionals from 59 teams, mainly from psychiatric care (50.7%) but also from social, neuropaediatric and vocational (re)habilitation, school health care and the occupational health service. The interprofessional model of team organization was the most frequent (62%), followed by the transprofessional (33%), and the multiprofessional team, (5%). A moderate positive correlation was found between team type and perceived efficiency as well as team climate. The greater the interdependence and the closer the co-operation, the higher the efficiency and the better the climate. No differences were found between professions or organizational domiciles with respect to team type. This paper suggests (1) a more consistent vocabulary with 'cross-professional' as the generic term covering different team types and (2) that a contingency approach to teamwork is tested in future research.

Health, health promotion and the elderly

Health promotion is a mode of practice which is being increasingly examined by policymakers (DHSS, 1987; DoH, 1992). Although practitioners are being required to screen people over 75 years of age and are exhorted to reduce accidents in the elderly by 33% between 1990 and 2005 (DoH, 1992), there is evidence that they do not value this sort of work (Pursey & Luker, 1993). This paper looks at the findings from 178 interviews with people aged over 75 years, examining the importance of health and health promotion to the elderly. Further to the work of Cox et al. (1987), it is clear that people aged over 75 years continue to engage in a wide variety of activities which are designed to keep or improve their health. Elderly people's accounts of their health suggest that the real influence of social circumstances and environment must be assessed and planned for if health promotion activity is to have relevance and meaning to this group of people. Evidence is presented which indicates that the elderly are a group of people who would welcome health-promotion activity provided it is given in easily accessible forms. The notion of client participation is highlighted as a difficult area, which is likely to require particular skill in working with elderly clients. In the light of these findings, practitioners may need to examine their own attitudes to their work with the elderly.