Exploring perceptions of interprofessional collaboration in child mental health care

PURPOSE: This paper proposes a tentative theoretical model (PINCOM) and a measure of mental health and school professionals' perception of interprofessional collaboration (IPC). THEORY: The model is based on twelve constructs derived from a pilot study, organizational and social psychology. The main aim of the model is to capture central aspects of IPC. METHOD: A forty-eight item self-report questionnaire (PINCOM-Q) was designed to explore professionals' perceptions of IPC. The sample (n=134) included professionals who worked in primary care, specialist services and in elementary schools. Exploratory factor analyses and reliability testing were conducted to reduce the large number of variables in the questionnaire. RESULTS: Results indicate that central aspects of IPC in the context of service delivery and case work are: interprofessional climate, organizational culture, organizational aims, professional power, group leadership and motivation. CONCLUSION: Preliminary empirical testing of the questionnaire demonstrated that it is possible to measure perceptions of IPC, with reasonable levels of construct validity and reliability. DISCUSSION: Further, revision of the questionnaire is discussed to make it fit for use in large scale studies with the purpose of enhancing (a) the validity of the PINCOM model, and (b) the quality of mental health services that are based on IPC.