Better Partnership Working

UK health and social care are increasingly being asked to work together across traditional agency boundaries. Although this sounds easy in theory, doing it in practice is complicated and difficult. In many cases, moreover, current training programmes, research and textbooks are even more divided than front-line services, and practitioners and managers are often being given the task of making partnerships work without the necessary support. Against this background, the second edition of this bestselling book provides a concise 'warts and all' introduction to partnership and integration, summarising updated references to current policy and research, setting out useful frameworks and approaches, and helping policy makers and practitioners to work more effectively together, with greater emphasis on 'integrated care'. Written by the leading authors in the field and fully updated since the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the book is also fully evidence- and research-based, while still being accessible and applicable to everyday practice. Aimed at students, practitioners, managers and policy makers in health and social care, and including new reflective exercises and boxed examples, this is still the one book that everyone in the field should read.

Although leadership and management are seen as central to developing effective integrated working, there is relatively little thoughtful work analysing the relationship between the two sets of ideas. Until now. This updated edition of this essential textbook provides a robust guide to the leadership and management of interagency collaborative endeavours. It summarises recent trends in policy, establishes what we can learn from research and practice, and uses international evidence to set out useful frameworks and approaches to address a range of problems that collaborations face.

Working in teams sounds simple but the reality is often more difficult within complex health and social care systems. This revised edition of this essential book brings together cutting edge thinking about teamworking, and considers how this can be turned into practice within the context of interagency settings. It introduces a range of theories, models, and research to demonstrate the benefits – and pitfalls – inherent in teamworking in collaborative settings. This is a practical and accessible guide focused on how interagency teams may be made to function more effectively, illustrated through real life examples. Its no-nonsense approach will appeal to students, practitioners, team leaders, managers and policymakers across the health and social care system.

The idea that professionals in health and social care should 'learn together to work together' in 'interprofessional education' (IPE) is not new. Nevertheless, interest in this concept has grown dramatically. By learning together, professions will better understand each other and value what others bring to the practice of collaboration. Through working together more effectively, the quality of care and outcomes for users will be improved, but what is the evidence to support this? How can effective and sustainable IPE programmes be designed and run? What theoretical perspectives are useful? How can programmes be evaluated? This essential guide provides a thorough introduction to IPE in health and social care. It examines the research on IPE in detail, providing much needed practical advice. This second edition includes updates to research and policy internationally, examples of successful programmes and methods of evaluation, and provides readers with an essential set of IPE 'do's and don'ts'.