Characteristics of significant interprofessional support in early childhood education and care in Finland

An interprofessional approach is often implemented to ensure a child's right to support when their support needs are complex. This study was designed to define the characteristics of significant interprofessional support in the context of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Finland, to promote a more systematic and functional praxis. The data were collected from ECEC teachers and special needs teachers as written and drawn maps (N = 34) presenting the interprofessional practices and networks in which they engage. Member check interviews (N = 2) were conducted to deepen the trustworthiness of the results. The maps and interviews were analysed with content analysis, and co-occurrences of the identified key themes were studied as a part of the analysis. The study concludes that interprofessional work was deemed more sustainable in Finnish ECEC when the professionals had a systematic approach or existing operational model that included elements of the found characteristics of functional significant interprofessional support.