Interprofessional and inter-agency collaboration (IPIAC)

This resource offers you an interactive timeline, helping you to find collaboration-related examples of policy, commissioned reports and legislation in England and Wales. The resource will provide you with: •a chronology of collaboration-related policy and legislation from 1968 to 2008 •a variety of examples covering developments in collaboration policy, organisation and practice •selected examples of policy and legislation relating to people who use care services and to carers. •overall, illustration of the expanding range of policy and legislation in which attention to collaboration is a feature

This resource will enable you to: •Identify different types of teams •Consider how different types of teams impact on interprofessional working •Identify the different roles necessary for successful teamworking •Identify your own role within the interprofessional team •Think about how you can develop your team working skills.

This resource will: •introduce you to the process of interprofessional assessment of needs, strengths and risks •provide the opportunity to consider the contribution that different professionals can make to the process of assessment •enable you to develop your understanding of assessment using a family case study which draws on the views of a range of professionals and those of family members.

This resource will assist you to: •think of the organisation/agency in which you work as part of a network of organisations/agencies, professions and services •appreciate that each organisation, including your own, shapes the roles of its staff, supplies resources and sets the boundaries of services •understand the interdependence of agencies and their practitioners in achieving the range of support that people who use care services may require •recognise that inter-agency collaboration ranges along a continuum, from cooperation based on mutual objectives to collaboration structured by regulated procedures •appreciate that procedures provide a framework for practice but they rely on people to make them work by applying expertise and values and negotiating outcomes.

This resource will assist you to: •reflect on the nature and complexity of social work and social care practice by considering the different people who may be involved •think of ‘direct work’ with people who use care services and their supporters and carers as being at the centre of your practice •recognise that ‘direct work’ does not take place in isolation but is affected by a range of other important relationships and interactions •manage the complexity of these multiple relationships by using a ‘model’ that groups them into ‘spheres’ of practice and interaction •view these spheres as the context or medium in which collaboration is achieved by you and others •think about how the model applies to practice

This resource will help you to: •understand the concept of professional identity and its importance in the relationship between professionals •consider similarity and difference between professionals •explore ‘models of practice’ as particular illustrations of similarity and difference •think about the benefits and challenges for interprofessional and inter-agency collaboration (IPIAC), that can result from professional difference •reflect on how some of the challenges to models of practice and professional identity, may be met constructively.

This resource will help you to: •consider the importance of constructive relationships in the context of collaborative working •identify and discuss the interpersonal skills and attributes that contribute to collaborative working •consider the factors that impinge on collaborative working relationships •evaluate and develop your own interpersonal skills in collaborative working

This resource will help you to develop and review your understanding of: •what is meant by ‘interprofessional and inter-agency collaboration’ (IPIAC) •why collaboration has grown in importance •the kinds of evidence that informs collaboration •key policy and legislation and their timeline