The aim of this research is to identify the main concern of health professionals and families working collaboratively in palliative care and find out how they manage that. The purpose of this study is to analyse the hidden social process of collaborative practice and produce a theoretical explanation of what is happening in palliative care practice. The theory will provide an account that can be used to improve health care delivery within palliative care; findings will be transferrable to other services where professionals work collaboratively with clients; and the theory will add to the knowledge base of social science research. This is a classic grounded theory study. Data will be collected from unstructured interviews from 30-40 participants – 20 health professionals and 20 family caregivers who live in the wider Auckland and Waikato regions. The interviews will start with health professionals and then move to the family caregivers. Family caregivers will be contacted three to six months following the death of their family member to ask if they would be willing to volunteer for the study. Interviews will be taped if participants agree. Data will be coded and analysed using open, selective and theoretical coding and constant comparative analysis until data saturation occurs. As each interview takes place, data is compared and analysed against the previous interview(s) to find the commonality of what participants are talking about. Analysis will be developed using memoing and theoretical sampling which will be used to follow through the developing theory.
Much of the research on interprofessional collaboration and collaborative practice to date has been descriptive and has not been sufficiently theorized. So while there is some knowledge generated about what appears to be happening little is known about how collaboration occurs in practice. Understandings of collaboration in practice are limited. If we do not have a good understanding of what we do as we work together in practice, we cannot compare that with what is expected in practice, and we are even less likely to know how to develop collaboration with families. Literature shows that the terms collaboration and collaborative practice have become predominant, driven by international workforce shortages, an aging population and an increasing complexity of care. These changes will affect the needs for palliative care delivery as well as have an effect on other areas of health care. World Health Organisation figures indicate a health workforce shortage of 4.3 million and this is not expected to get any better. Therefore, a smarter way of working has to be found to meet future needs.
Collaborative practice has been shown to improve quality of health care delivery and improve patient outcomes. Research shows that other benefits include shorter length of hospital stay, an improved workplace culture, increased work satisfaction for those who collaborate, and a reduction in the cost of patient care. Understanding what is happening in the New Zealand environment will assist with future planning of both health care service delivery and has the potential to contribute to the education of health care professionals. This study will contribute to research over all by developing a theoretical explanation of collaborative practice in palliative care.