Book Review
Collaboration: A health care imperative
Toni Sullivan (Primary author and editor)
ISBN: 0-070633-50-9 1998 646 pages McGraw-Hill Book Co.
Ken Walsh
Professor of Nursing Practice Development, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health, University of Wollongong, and South East Sydney and Illawarra Area Health Service, Wollongong NSW. Australia
Collaboration is fast becoming a health services catch cry of the 1990s, yet few can articulate just what is meant by collaboration or how to bring it about. This ambitious book aims to present an authoritative, scholarly and comprehensive treatment of the subject of collaboration. It aims to be of use to a variety of health care professionals. From clinical nurses striving to form collaborative links, to health services executives, physicians and health educators, the book tries to provide something of relevance to all.
The majority of the sixteen contributors are nurses, some of whom are well known internationally. The list also includes one Australian nurse, Genevieve Grey. As with any edited work, the readability of the chapters varies and the book definitely has a North American slant. Much of the history of collaboration and the discussion of the legal aspects of legislation are from a United States perspective. Nevertheless, most of the US experience does, or will in the near future, have some relevance to the Australian context.
This is no light book for bedtime reading. It is a large book of some 21 chapters spread over six parts. Part I details the historical, conceptual and theoretical foundations of the concept of collaboration between disciplines, organisations and individuals. Part II focuses of collaboration between people (advanced practice nurses, doctors and collaborative practices). In Part III, interorganisational collaboration is discussed. Part IV comprises two chapters on international collaboration, one of which is written by Afaf Meleis and Genevieve Grey. Part V focuses on facilitating collaboration and consists of six chapters on more practical aspects of collaboration; and finally, Part VI details possible future directions for collaboration.
For me Part V (Chapters 14 to 19) was the most interesting part of the book because it was the closest to a practical guide for collaboration. The topics covered in these chapters include collaboration in health education, transformational leadership, advanced practice nursing and collaborating with consumers in health care. These four topics link together in a way that perhaps sums up the general thrust of his book: the future of health care is a collaborative future. The collaborative future will require new ways of interacting with, and learning from, members of our own discipline and other health professionals. It will require excellence in leadership, real collaborative partnerships with consumers as well as an ability and willingness to grasp opportunities (such as advanced practice in nursing) as they arise. This section of the book gives blueprints for facilitating collaboration in each of these four areas and exemplars are given to illustrate the principles outlined. A very good read.
In summary, this is a comprehensive book on the subject of collaboration and contains something for everyone. Unless you have an abiding interest on all aspects of collaboration in health, it will probably be most useful as a reference source rather than as a book for your personal library. The book is of high quality with chapters written by experienced leaders in their field. An up-to-date book on an important topic. Highly recommended.
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