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Modernised health and social care services require that qualifying practitioners have the necessary skills for them to practise collaboratively. The nature of interprofessional working is, however, poorly understood. This article describes the development of learning outcomes regarding interprofessional working that are relevant to all professions.

The purpose of this review was to explore the literature for evidence of the impact of interprofessional practice models on health service inequity, particularly within community care settings for diverse ageing populations.

An integrative systematic literature review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework combined with the EndNote reference management system. Following the collection and comprehensive screening process completion, a thematic analysis of the included articles occurred utilising within NVivo 12 software.

The review found that there was a paucity of evidence related to the relationship between interprofessional practice models (IPM) and health service equity for ageing populations. There is a need to improve collaborative practices between social care, public health care and health service providers to more clearly define team member roles. Key aspirations included the need for future innovations in health service delivery to place health service equity as a goal for interprofessional practice. There is a need to find ways to measure and articulate the impact for vulnerable populations and communities.

The review offers insight into the need for health care delivery models to place health service equity at the centre of the model design. In practice settings, this includes setting interprofessional team goals around achieving equitable care outcomes for, and with, vulnerable populations. Implications for practice relate to improving how interprofessional teams work with communities to achieve health care equity.

There is a consensus across the literature that there continues to be health service inequity, yet IPE and interprofessional collaborative practice (IPC) have been growing in momentum for some time. Despite many statements that there is a link between interprofessional practice and improved health service equity and health outcomes, evidence for this is yet to be fully realised. This review highlights the urgent need to review the link between education and practice, and innovative health models of care that enable heath care professionals and social care providers to work together towards achieving health equity for ageing populations. It is clear that more evidence is required to establish evidence for best practice in interprofessional care that has the mitigation of health care inequity as a central objective.

The modernisation agenda in health and social care is concerned with providing an integrated service for patients/clients and their carers. This paper focuses on the nature of practice‐based learning environments that support the development of students as effective interprofessional practitioners for the modernised health and social care services.

There is a general agreement that the potential of shared learning is great in terms of interprofessional working and client care. Despite the fact that interprofessional education has been a key area of professional education and practice policies for the last decade there is a dearth of evidence of its successful implementation in maternity care. Doctors and midwives are often educated in separate faculties within universities and rarely given the opportunity for shared learning activities, particularly at postgraduate level. Barriers to implementing interprofessional learning are identified within the literature and these include a difference in perception of the status each profession holds and different ways of working and learning which impedes the development of interprofessional relationships. It is argued that through interprofessional education, doctors and midwives should be enabled to develop skills of collaborative working, thus making referrals between professionals more effective. The exploration of the differences of professional cultures in a shared learning environment will enable professionals to formulate agreement on best practice in the clinical areas, based on current best evidence. Thus, interprofessional education aims to dispel the stereotypes and prejudice which often act as a barrier to effective collaborative working. The implications of interprofessional education on three main areas of practice are explored using a review of the literature: professional roles; conflict and collaboration between professions; and the sharing of knowledge and skills. Recommendations are made for the development of post‐registration shared learning that address these key areas.

One overlooked determinant of interprofessional teamwork is the mobilisation of professional identity. Taking a health or social care practitioner out of their professional silo and placing them in an interprofessional team setting will challenge their professional identity. The theory of signature pedagogy was used to investigate the challenges and what is needed to support practitioners to mobilise their professional identity to maximise teamwork.

A cross-sectional mixed methods study was undertaken in the form of three focus groups, with members of health and social care teams in Wales, UK. Using nominal group technique, participants explored and ranked the challenges and benefits of mobilising their professional identity within an interprofessional setting.

Findings on mobilising professional identity were found to be aligned closely with the three signature pedagogy apprenticeships of learning to think and to perform like others in their profession and to act with moral integrity. The biggest challenge facing practitioners was thinking like others in their profession while in an interprofessional team.

The focus of this study is health and social care teams within Wales, UK, which may limit the results to teams that have a similar representation of professionals.

Healthcare leaders should be aware of the opportunities to promote mobilisation of professional identity to maximise teamwork. For example, at induction, by introducing the different roles and shared responsibilities. Such practical implications do have consequences for policy as regards interprofessional team development and organisational commitments to adult learning and evaluation.

This is the first study of professional identity of interprofessional healthcare and social professionals using signature pedagogy to gain a better understanding of teamwork.

The current emphasis on the development of an interprofessional workforce in health and social care puts interprofessional learning at the heart of undergraduate curricula. This paper explores the concept of interprofessional mentorship and considers how this role might be developed in order to facilitate interprofessional learning in the practice placement.

The interprofessional collaboration is a key practice for providing cancer care. However, the realization of collaboration requires effective leadership and administrative support. In this study, the aim was to analyze healthcare professionals' perceptions of leadership and administrative support (strategic and management) in interprofessional collaboration for developing practices in cancer care.

A descriptive survey design was used to collect data from healthcare professionals (n = 350, response rate 33.3%), including nurses, physicians and other professionals participating in patient care in one Finnish cancer center (out of five) in 05/2018–10/2018. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The instrument focused on leadership in the work unit and administrative support including organization strategy and organizational management.

Healthcare professionals perceived leadership in the work unit, organization strategy and management for the support of interprofessional collaboration as weak. However, the ratings of male respondents and those in leading positions were more positive. The findings indicate that healthcare professionals in the cancer care setting are dissatisfied with the leadership and administrative support.

Interprofessional collaboration, including its leadership, requires systematic and constant evaluation and development.

Healthcare leaders in the cancer care setting can use the results to identify factors that might be in need of attention and development in the field of interprofessional collaboration.

The purpose of this study is to review evidence on the nature of effective leadership in interprofessional health and social care teams.

A critical review and thematic synthesis of research literature conducted using systematic methods to identify and construct a framework to explain the available evidence about leadership in interprofessional health and social care teams.

Twenty-eight papers were reviewed and contributed to the framework for interprofessional leadership. Twelve themes emerged from the literature, the themes were: facilitate shared leadership; transformation and change; personal qualities; goal alignment; creativity and innovation; communication; team-building; leadership clarity; direction setting; external liaison; skill mix and diversity; clinical and contextual expertise. The discussion includes some comparative analysis with theories and themes in team management and team leadership.

This research identifies some of the characteristics of effective leadership of interprofessional health and social care teams. By capturing and synthesising the literature, it is clear that effective interprofessional health and social care team leadership requires a unique blend of knowledge and skills that support innovation and improvement. Further research is required to deepen the understanding of the degree to which team leadership results in better outcomes for both patients and teams.

The agenda for change in health and social care calls for an integrated approach with interprofessional working around care pathways. At the same time there is a shift towards a more user‐centred service. Where does this leave the professions and what is the role of higher education? Interprofessional learning (IPL) is sometimes seen as a threat to professional integrity and identity. However, it may be the key to not only enhancing the patients'/clients' experience of care, but also enriching professional fulfilment. What are the arguments around IPL and what might be the benefits?

The growing number of people with multiple problems in different areas of life means that cross-domain interprofessional collaboration is becoming increasingly important. This study aims to focus on interprofessional collaboration between professionals from social work and financial and employment service organizations in The Netherlands. This type of cross-domain collaboration is still mostly superficial, and limited empirical knowledge is available about its beneficial factors.

The interprofessional collaboration model of Mulvale et al. (2016) was used as theoretical background for the research methodology and to reflect on the findings of our study. Data was collected through a qualitative study among professionals (N = 18) from social work and financial and employment service organizations in three different Dutch municipalities.

Similar team-level collaboration mechanisms of Mulvale et al.’s (2016) model were seen within this study. Joint client meetings were very beneficial for the interprofessional collaboration. Further beneficial factors include the decision-making process, team vision, client as an equal member, open communication and the appointment of a coordinator.

Further special attention is needed to determine how best to allocate co-ordinating tasks, and how organizational and policy contexts affect the functioning of interprofessional collaborative teams.

This study offers an empirical view on a cross-domain collaboration between social work and financial and employment service organizations, by using Mulvale et al.’s (2016) model. In addition, this study also offers special attention to the role of the client in interprofessional collaborative teams.