Factors Influencing Collaborative Engagement among Omani Healthcare Professionals

Interprofessional collaboration has been identified as an important tool for improved health service delivery and sustainable healthcare systems.It has been shown to promote patient-centred and family-oriented goals and values, improve communication among caregivers, and enhance multidisciplinary involvement in clinical decision-making.The aim of this study was to identify the factors that encourage or hinder interprofessional collaboration among healthcare professionals in Oman.Five focus group discussions were conducted in primary care settings with 18 (7 male, 11 female) health professionals, including health managers and policy makers, physicians, nurses and academics.They responded to questions on two main themes: perceptions of interprofessional collaboration, and factors facilitating and/or hindering collaboration among different healthcare professionals.The discussions were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using NVivo software.The study concluded that only encouraging healthcare professionals in Oman to collaborate and work in teams is not enough, the potential solution involves individual, team and organizational factors.One of the main factors included early introduction of interprofessional education programmes to increase the level of awareness among these professionals.The study also indicated that supportive leadership is a key factor to successful implementation.