Experiences of cross-sectoral collaboration between social security service and healthcare service for patients with chronic pain - a qualitative study.

Abstract

Objectives: Patients with chronic pain need healthcare services for pain management. Many also require social security services due to potential negative influence of chronic pain on social and work-related issues. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the experiences of taking part in cross-sectoral collaborative meetings between social security service and healthcare service for chronic pain patients.

Methods: A qualitative study using semi-structured individual interviews with 15 informants, including healthcare providers, patients, and social security supervisors who had taken part in 8 different meetings, was conducted. The focus of the interviews was how the informants experienced cross-sectoral collaborative meetings. The data were analyzed following the systematic text condensation method, including the steps of total impression, identifying meaning units, condensation, and synthesizing.

Results: The findings were categorized into four themes: "Joining the meeting with preconceptions," which showed how some informants experienced that negative preconceptions toward the social security service were addressed in the cross-sectoral collaborative meetings and solved in some cases. "Get to know each other," which highlighted that the meetings provided opportunities for participants to increase their knowledge about the involved actors. "Access to detailed health information?" indicated that although concerns about whether sensitive health information should be shared with social security supervisors were raised by healthcare providers, the supervisors found this issue to be less concerning. Finally, "Who has the final word?", which showed that unclarity over decision-making processes during the meetings was experienced to create disagreement between participants.

Conclusions: The informants experienced that cross-sectoral collaborative meetings between patients, social security supervisors, and healthcare providers, while challenging, can play a significant role in managing the needs of patients with chronic pain. The study highlights the need for clarification over the roles of the actors and a jointly agreed-upon agenda for the meetings to ensure effective collaboration.