Karin Crawford is a Principal Teaching Fellow in the School of Health and Social Care and Director of Teaching and Learning for the Faculty of Health, Life and Social Sciences at the University of Lincoln.

PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE
Introducing Interprofessional Collaborative Practice
The Context of Collaborative Practice
Understanding and Evaluating Contemporary Collaborative Practice
PART TWO: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN THE COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT
Working with Service Users and Carers in the Collaborative Environment
Implications of Collaborative Working Practice for the Individual Practitioner
The Contribution of Social Work to the Collaborative Environment
Professional Practice in the Collaborative Organization
Enhancing Individual Practice in the Collaborative Environment

How can social workers be more effective in collaborative work? What are the skills, knowledge and values required for collaborative practice? How does collaborative social work practice impact on the experience of service-users and carers?

These questions are faced by social workers every day and interprofessional collaborative practice is high on the policy agenda for trainees and practitioners. Written primarily for social work students and practitioners, although having relevance across the wider range of stakeholders, this book explores the issues, benefits and challenges that interprofessional collaborative practice can raise. Chapter-by-chapter the book will encourage the reader to critically examine the political, legal, social and economic context of interprofessional practice. It also explores how social workers can work effectively and collaboratively with other professions while retaining their own values and identity.

Key features include:

- activities to illustrate the ways in which collaborative working can impact upon the experiences of service users, carers and practitioners;

- discussions looking at the different people and organisations with whom social workers might work in practice;

- examples of research and knowledge for practice;

- a glossary to act as a useful quick reference point for the reader;

- a companion website.

Engaging and well-written, each chapter also includes case studies, reflective questions and links to further reading and sources of information. Interprofessional Collaboration in Social Work Practice will be essential reading for social work qualifying students and for practitioners.