Abstract
Introduction: One of the challenging aspects of organizing integrated care is the complexity of organizing supervision of these networks. Supervision can be understood as parties explaining and justifying their conduct in reaction on other parties posing questions and passing judgement, potentially with consequences for the parties under supervision. contemporary arrangements and instruments for supervision are mostly aimed at individual organizations and not aimed at supervising the functioning of an integrated network of organizations. Supervision on a network as-a-whole can make it more feasible for organizational leaders to overcome their own specific interest to strive for the common interest of the network and society.
Our workshop will inform about the quest for network supervision and on our first research findings from the extensive domain overarching research program “External and Internal Supervision Methods and Modalities for Organizational Networks Addressing Complex Societal Issues (EISON)”, which includes 8 networks from healthcare, education, housing and safety.
Context & problem: When an inter-organizational network is formed, the starting point is mostly a certain need of a group of clients or a wicked problem in society, which urges the need for collaboration. There are several difficult challenges arising during integrated care collaboration which can be tackled more proficiently when network supervision is well established. Since our research program is also focused on other domains than Care, we can consider the potential of supervisory arrangements already established within those other domains. And moreover, we are interested in discussing supervisory arrangements functioning in different countries.
Target audience: Our primary target audience consists of care professionals participating in long term, healthcare or social care organizations operating in integral networks and managers and directors involved in integrated care governance. Our session will especially take the cross-domain and international perspective in scope.
Facilitation: The workshop will be facilitated by Sander Merkus, senior researcher at Vilans and Professor Mirella Minkman of TIAS/Tilburg University. They will be accompanied by Denise Seelen, network coordinator of the integral care network for vulnerable Elderly people “Healthy Veluwe”, one of the research objects of the EISON research. They will first give and introduction (10 minutes), then continue with a case study example of existing supervisory arrangements within the Care networks that are under research (15 minutes) and potential supervisory arrangements inspired by the arrangements within other domains of society. Then we will engage in active interaction with the audience for 25 minutes, to reflect on both existing and potential supervisory arrangements within their own (international) context. We will finish with 5 minutes of feedback, wrap up and a closing statement. Participants who want to be further involved can leave their contact details and specific interests to follow the study.
The key learnings are an increased consciousness for the importance of innovative network supervision as a part of integrated care governance, knowledge concerning potential supervisory arrangements and a provisional framework for investigating which arrangements might be interesting is specific contexts.