Complex Organisational Integration: A Case Study of Health and Social Care Integration in England

Abstract

This dissertation aims to provide a strong contribution to the public debate which centres on health and social care integration in England. With ever increasing demands on the health and social care system, politicians have championed the integration between the two sectors as a major element to cope with this challenge. Indeed, verbal opposition to this policy is scarce, yet integration efforts do not tend to be readily observable and wide-spread. Moreover, service redesign efforts cost multiple millions of pounds, therefore, what could be done to improve these processes is critical and pertinent at this time of great challenge for our care services.
The main objective of the goal-directed research in this dissertation is to uncover to what extent social psychological processes play a role in this seeming ‘disconnect’ between what people ‘say’ and what they actually ‘do’. To create this insight, a series of five social studies were designed using a mixed research methods approach, using new and interactive technology to capture this data.
A total of sixty-three individuals volunteered to participate in the study. The results indicate that comparatively healthcare participants indicate higher levels of social empathy, social perspective taking, and willingness to reach out and share funding with those in social care during the explicit studies. Yet, the implicit data suggest a moderate to strong automatic preference for healthcare over social care by participants from the healthcare sector.
The findings in this cast a certain doubt over the use of traditional behavioural analysis techniques such as surveys and interviews. We provide a way forward to increase the validity of these methods and provide recommendations for policy for health and social care integration in England.