Inter-organisational integration for rehabilitation in Sweden – variation in views on long-term goals

PURPOSE The aim was to study variation in views on long-term goals expressed by members in a project concerning rehabilitation of individuals in an area in mid Sweden. The organisations participating were the municipal social services, the county council's health care organisation, the governmental social insurance office, the national employment service and the national labour market institute. THEORY A number of different meanings of the concept of integration are accounted for and the background of inter-organisational rehabilitation in Sweden is described. METHODS Qualitative interviews using a semi-structured interview guide with altogether 20 leading representatives of the various organisations, all members of the Steering Committee of the project. The analysis consisted of two parts: an in-depth analysis using a phenomenographically inspired approach and qualitative content analysis. RESULTS Two main views regarding the goal of inter-organisational integration were identified in the in-depth analysis: Category A, which regards integration as a new approach to rehabilitation, and Category B, which regards integration as a way of rendering the existing organisations more efficient. The content analysis showed a wide variation in spontaneously mentioned topics e.g. on the task of the group. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION There exists a risk that divergent views in the Steering Committee concerning the future direction of the collaboration may send mixed messages providing uneven support for the professionals within the different organisations. The study points to the importance of having a common vision and common, well-defined goals at the outset of a collaborative project in order to support micro-level cooperation.