Building a shared professional culture for Integrated Care: Insights from the Grup Mutuam initiative

Background: Grup Mutuam (GM) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide health and social services to people with chronic conditions, dependency, or at the end of life. It brings together entities managing day centers and nursing homes funded by the Department of Social Rights, as well as intermediate care and community-based healthcare services contracted by the Catalan Health Service. Although all share the same care purpose, professionals operate under distinct regulatory and organizational frameworks, which can lead to unequal access to training, resources, and approaches to care.

 The aim of this project is to enhance the preparedness and competencies of professionals for integrated care, fostering shared knowledge and consistent practice to ensure equitable, person-centred, and high-quality care across all service settings.

 

Approach: The management of GM’s entities is coordinated through several departments ensuring the organization’s economic, administrative, and operational alignment. Some functions are cross-cutting, such as Nursing Management, Quality, and Training and Education. Under the leadership of Nursing Management and with support from the Quality Department, working groups were established to review and update care protocols and procedures, promoting multidisciplinary participation.

 

To strengthen shared learning, monthly clinical webinars were launched to facilitate participation across all centers, along with two annual conferences focused respectively on dependency care and intermediate care. In parallel, a structured three-year training plan was developed for all GM professionals, clinical and non-clinical, comprising ten in-person sessions. The program addresses topics such as leadership, teamwork, ethics, and patient safety, while emphasizing person-centred care and the value of interdisciplinary collaboration.

 

Results: The establishment of cross-functional working groups has encouraged collaborative learning and mutual understanding among professionals from different sectors, resulting in the harmonization of care protocols and more consistent approaches to similar health and social challenges.

The clinical webinars have enhanced awareness of the various care settings within GM, promoting interprofessional dialogue and continuous learning through the presentation of best practices.

 

The annual conferences, open to the wider community, have become well-regarded forums for professional exchange and public recognition of GM’s integrated care initiatives.

The training plan has improved professionals’ understanding of each other’s roles, fostering empathy, communication, and a sense of shared purpose. Preliminary qualitative feedback indicates that professionals perceive an increase in coordination, confidence, and coherence in their care practices across the organization.

 

Conclusion: s Through this structured training and knowledge-sharing strategy, GM is promoting a unified professional culture that transcends sectoral boundaries, reducing fragmentation in the care process and strengthening continuity across health and social care. The initiative demonstrates that investing in collective learning and common professional frameworks can help bridge the gap between systems governed by different regulations and funding models.

Ultimately, this experience highlights the importance of aligning organizational learning with integrated care principles, ensuring that all individuals receive consistent, person-centred, and coordinated support, regardless of the type of service or setting involved.