Professional Stereotyping

The ability to understand the different professional roles when working collaboratively is important. This is because there is a need to see how all the roles are related and how they are all vital parts of a service user journey through care. It is perceived that multi-disciplinary collaboration when it comes to service user care is linked to more positive outcomes and experiences. This could be because a greater understanding of the different professional roles allows for professionals to relate the different roles. Therefore professionals are able to inform service users of what to expect of different services used in their care pathway. However there is no clear definitive outcome in determine a team’s effectiveness, as different teams

Stereotyping is something that is part of human nature and this is difficult to turn off. Professional stereotypes can have both a positive and detrimental effect on a team. On one hand stereotypes can create a negative impression of a group and this can affect the interaction with that group. Going into a team with preconceived ideas affects the way that a person will interact with members on the team. So if a profession is deemed as being domineering, then it is likely that any interaction with them will be held in the esteem that they are trying to dominate. This can cause friction in a team as benign manners may be misinterpreted as otherwise. Friction in a team can have a detrimental effect on service users as this means it takes longer to make decisions on care as there will be disagreements that aren’t beneficial to the decision making process. On the other hand stereotypes can serve as a guide to how people interact when working in a group and how they rationalise their communication. When it comes to dealing with professions or service users for the first time stereotypes may aid in guiding through the appropriate manner in which they interact with them. This impacts on the service user because if a service user is from a different cultural background, based on a stereotype professionals may have an inclination on the most appropriate way to communicate with

When working collaboratively there should be a considerable amount of information that is shared freely and efficiently. The way information is conveyed between services has a big impact on service users, both positive and negative. There is an expectation that in and health and social care there is a clear flow of information from one professional to another. However this is not always the case. As detailed in the Francis Report, lack of sharing of information has negative implications on service user care. When information is shared freely it reduces the amounts of errors made and as mentioned beforehand it allows for decisions to be aptly critiqued before being made. The impact that this has on service users is that the care they received is thoroughly thought out and has the possibility of being more