Health care social workers roles and experiences with interprofessional collaboration

There is an increasing trend towards interprofessional collaborative care models in Canadian health care systems. Social workers bring a unique perspective to the interprofessional team as their purpose, values, and scope of practice substantially differ from other health care professionals. As such, differences in patient care approaches can create barriers to interprofessional team collaboration (Reid, Greaves, & Kirby, 2017). This thematic literature review explores the challenges facing social workers as interprofessional healthcare team members. Using feminist theory as a theoretical framework, themes were identified as barriers to collaboration: lack of role clarity, influence of the medical model environment, education, and organizational structures. The history of neoliberalism and its impact on Canada's health care system was examined to understand how neoliberal ideologies have shaped social work. Further, literature gaps and limitations were highlighted to support future research. Lastly, implications to future social work practice and policy are discussed to strengthen the social work profession and aid in the future success of the interprofessional team approaches to health care delivery.