Health Professionals’ Experiences of Interprofessional Collaboration When Supporting Autistic Children and Their Families in Australia

Abstract

Interprofessional collaboration among health professionals is widely recognised as best practice in the assessment and support of autistic children and their families. Nevertheless, limited empirical research has considered the extent to which health professionals actually collaborate in practice. This study aimed to explore how health professionals from diverse disciplines experience interprofessional collaboration when supporting autistic children and their families in Australia. An exploratory qualitative study was undertaken using semistructured interviews with 15 health professionals from various disciplines including occupational therapy, paediatric medicine, physiotherapy, psychology, social work and speech therapy, who work with autistic children in Australia. Interview data were analysed using inductive reflexive thematic analysis. Five distinct yet interrelated themes were developed from the data that summarised the health professionals’ experiences of interprofessional collaboration in supporting autistic children and their families. These were as follows: interprofessional collaboration is recognised as best practice, differences in attitudes and understandings create conflict, professional networks are a foundation for interprofessional collaboration, concerns about leadership roles and responsibilities and interprofessional collaboration is influenced by broader social systems. Findings have practical implications for individual health professionals and the policy makers and organisations who oversee the delivery of support services to autistic children and their families. Systems should be reorganised and interprofessional education programs expanded to better enable health professionals and those from other sectors to collaborate effectively when supporting autistic children and their families. These findings also highlight a need for further research of the conflict caused by different approaches to autism support.