title: A literature review of interprofessional working and intermediate care in the UK.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This systematic literature review aimed at addressing two questions: first, what evidence exists regarding intermediate care in the UK; and what interventions have been used to develop interprofessional working in intermediate care in the UK? A systematic review of the literature from 2000-2006 resulted in a total of 104 full-text articles describing research into intermediate care in the UK.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The review was the first stage of a large, national project evaluating and developing interprofessional working among health and social care staff, particularly in relation to the intermediate care of older people.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic literature review.
  
  
  METHODS
  All the literature was reviewed by one reviewer, and a second review was carried out by a team of reviewers to ensure each article was reviewed twice, independently. One article was reviewed by all the reviewers to ensure inter-rater reliability; finally, all the reviews were amalgamated, which resulted in one summary per article.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The main findings drawn from this systematic literature review are that research carried out on intermediate care in the UK has a diverse set of aims, for example economic evaluations, delivery of intermediate care and exploring the views and perceptions of those involved in intermediate care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although several articles include discussions about the importance of interprofessional working in intermediate care, no article specifically focused on the interprofessional focus of intermediate care, and there was no research about interventions used to develop interprofessional working.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intermediate care as a policy has been interpreted very differently across the four countries of the UK; there is no one preferred or consistent interpretation to its delivery.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Life Course Studies, Keele University, Clinical Education Centre, City General Hospital, Stoke on Trent, UK. a.c.rout@staffs.ac.uk
authors.forename: Amelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rout
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ashby
authors.forename: Sian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maslin-Prothero
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Masterson
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Priest
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beach
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sturdy
mesh_terms: D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D009729:Nursing; D006113:United Kingdom