title: Membership and management: structures of inter-professional working in community mental health teams for older people in England.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Community mental health services are regarded as the preferred first tier of specialist psychogeriatric support, with integrated multidisciplinary teams believed to offer improved decision-making and greater continuity of care than separate single-profession services. In England over 400 community mental health teams (CMHTs) form the cornerstone of such support, yet research has neither assessed progress toward integrating key professional disciplines nor the nature of their membership and management arrangements.
  
  
  METHODS
  A self-administered questionnaire was sent to all CMHTs for older people in England, seeking a combination of objective and subjective information on team structure and management.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Responses from 376 (88%) teams highlighted broader multidisciplinary membership than found in a 2004 survey, with particular growth in the number of support workers and other unqualified practitioners. Only modest progress was found in the integration of psychologists and social workers within CMHTs. The data also revealed a trend toward "core" team membership, and away from "sessional" membership in which staff may have divided loyalties between services. Multidisciplinary working was reported as beneficial by many respondents, but examples of "silo working" were also found, which may have hampered service delivery in a minority of teams.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The reported growth in the number of practitioners without professional registration raises issues about the appropriate skill mix and substitution within CMHTs, while local agencies should review barriers to the integration of psychologists and social workers. Further research is required to explore the quality of multidisciplinary team working.
authors.affiliation: Personal Social Services Research Unit, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. mark.wilberforce@manchester.ac.uk
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wilberforce
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abendstern
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brand
authors.forename: Clarissa Marie
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Giebel
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Challis
mesh_terms: D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires