The significance of effective interprofessional teamwork to improve the quality of care has been widely recognised. Effective interprofessional teamwork calls on good collaboration between professionals and patients, coordination between professionals, and the development of teamwork over time. Effective development of teams also requires support from the wider organisational context. In a Dutch village, healthcare professionals work closely together, and mutual consultations as well as interprofessional meetings take place on a regular basis. The network was created as a precondition for sustainable interprofessional teamwork in elderly care. However, several external barriers were experienced regarding the supportive structure and cooperative attitude of the healthcare insurer and municipality. The aim of the article is to examine these experience-based issues regarding internal organisation, perspective, and definition of effective teamwork. Complicating factors refer to finding the right key figures, and the different perspectives on team development and team effectiveness. Our conclusion is that the organisation of healthcare insurance companies needs to implement fundamental changes to facilitate an interprofessional care approach. Furthermore, municipalities should work on their vision of the needs and benefits of a fruitful collaboration with interprofessional healthcare teams. The challenge for healthcare teams is to learn to speak the language of external partners. To support the development of interprofessional teams, external parties need to recognise and trust in a shared aim to provide quality of care in an efficient and effective way.
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In this paper we will describe and present the results of an experiment at the Fontys University of Professional Education in which engineering students work together with students from other disciplines in a multidisciplinary group at the end of their study on a real-life environmental problem outside the university. Since 1994 there has been a possibility for engineering students to graduate in this way, in a multidisciplinary group. First a rough sketch will be given of the background and the educational model. In this sketch attention will be paid to the different role which the student as well as the teacher play in this kind of education. The characteristics of this model will be explained. Then it will be made clear what the results were in the past years with respect to content as well as to the learning of skills. At the end some conclusions will be given.
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Globalization, accelerating technological advancements and the increasing unpredictability and demanding nature of clients have a major impact on the context in which companies operate. Companies are compelled to create a stream of innovations, both technological and organizational, in order to adapt to the continuously changing environment. In addition companies will more and more innovate in collaboration with clients, competitors and research institutes, ever more in an international context. Looking at the Netherlands though, the innovative capacity is lagging behind. One of the underlying problems is the lack of technical background and research experience in company management. Another is the low availability of higher educated personnel with a scientific or technical background, thereby creating a vicious circle. A well-prepared engineering workforce is necessary that is able to collaborate in interdependent relationships and that can manage multiple innovation projects. It demands a T-shaped engineer that has in-depth knowledge of one discipline and a broad knowledge base in adjacent areas or in general business or entrepreneurial fields. Nevertheless, this profile will not be created by regular education. Interaction with the work field-with entrepreneurs, researchers and experts-and between students will enable the necessary learning experiences. One of the programmes that the University of Applied Science, School of Technology, has created to accommodate this, is 'The Innovation Lab'. In this highly interactive environment engineering students with various backgrounds (mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, product design and entrepreneurship) work together in interdisciplinary project teams on current innovation ideas and assignments of real companies. The Innovation Lab will serve as an example in this presentation on how the University of Applied Science, School of Technology, is preparing students for a future in innovative organizations. With a T-shaped profile young engineers are better prepared to act successfully in an open innovation environment and can bring technology back in company management. Moreover, this versatility will make technology and design education more attractive for scholars that are faced with a choice for technology education.
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