Unpublished MSc thesis, Unitec Institute of Technology, 2022, 126, type of study: ,des,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Free full text   (https://www.researchbank.ac.nz/items/3ca17934-b663-460f-bf44-df45f5c221b4/full)

Keywords:

collaboration [24]
integrated care delivery [1]
manual health care [1]
multidisciplinary education [1]
osteopathic manipulative treatment [3945]
OMT [3924]
descriptive study [72]

Abstract:

Introduction: In the last decade, an urgency to move away from fragmented care into an integrated model of health care delivery has been meaningly pushed. Policymakers worldwide have been developing policies that promote care collaboration to address contemporary health issues. Nonetheless, in New Zealand, limited research is available highlighting the inclusion of osteopaths working in an integrated care environment. Current osteopathic research positions osteopaths alongside other health professionals within diverse health practice environments. Aims: To identify why osteopaths in New Zealand may have chosen to work in an integrated care environment and whether their experience was positive or negative. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study of seven registered osteopaths who have previously or currently worked in an integrated care environment was conducted. Osteopaths were interviewed using semi-structured indicative questions. Recordings were transcribed, and transcriptions were thematically analysed. Results: The three principal themes of ‘knowledge’, ‘operational management’, and ‘individual traits and skills’ were found to significantly influence the experience of an osteopath who chose to continue working in an integrated care environment. Each theme included two or three subthemes. ‘Knowledge’ included education and preparation. Management, time, and cost were the subthemes of ‘operational management’, and ‘individual traits and skills’ included communication, collaboration, and personality. No osteopaths in this study stated making a specific choice to work in an integrated care environment. Conclusion: Although the osteopaths in this study did not choose to entre an integrated care environment to work alongside alternative registered health care professionals, a positive view was held by those osteopaths who continued to work in this environment. However, many inconsistencies in this model of care delivery exist, resulting in several key barriers. This study highlighted the necessity for future research to address multidisciplinary education and operational management within an integrated health care environment