Navigating Networks: The Role of Values in Integrated Care Governance

Introduction: Effective collaboration between organisations, which is often essential for integrating care, is not only achieved by smooth governance structures or trust between partners. Values, which can be defined as “meaningful beliefs referring to desirable goals that motivate action” or simply ‘what we see as important’, also play a vital role. Multiple authors recognise the importance of values. However, in what exact way the values of actors in collaborative networks play a role, is still relatively unknown. Although frequently mentioned in literature, the question is whether shared values are really necessary for successful collaboration. In practice, the sum of complementary parts is often greater than the parts. This study addresses this gap by examining the role of values in care networks, without the pre-assumption that shared values are crucial for successful collaboration.

Methods and co-design: Our session provides insight in a unique multiple case study of 25 care networks in the Netherlands, from youth care to palliative care, from small scale to large scale networks. First, in-depth interviews were conducted with the network leaders, addressing governance and organisation, collaborative dynamics, and the role of values.  Second, all other network actors filled in a questionnaire, assessing their perception of the collaboration in the network, their priority values and network effectiveness. Lastly, relevant documentation such as minutes and collaborative agreements was analysed. The target end-users of the questionnaire (professionals, network leaders) were consulted in the development of the survey questions.

Results and contribution: The provisional findings offer understanding on the role of values in integrated care networks and their governance. While professionals and organisations collaborating within integrated care networks may possess distinct value orientations, values can additionally facilitate care integration, fostering a shared purpose, mutual understanding, or collective efforts based on a joint values framework. Additionally, we specifically provide insights into the role of values within the context of network characteristics and governance. Do values play a more or less important role in particular networks or governance modes? Or, vice versa, are particular governance arrangements more or less suitable for high or low value differentiation in networks?

Target audience and learnings for an international audience: This study will be of interest to network leaders, professionals and policy makers from multiple countries, seeking to learn more about governing integrated care networks. Specifically the role of normative aspects such as values, and how to apply this in daily practice and policy, will be highlighted. The presentation will be relevant for researchers as well, because we present conceptual and methodological approaches.

Next steps: Based on the study results, we will develop a digitally accessible self-assessment tool that enables: 1) scientifically grounded translation integrated care values into archetypes, 2) professionals to discern their own values archetype through self-assessment, 3) network leaders to identify values archetypes within their teams and engage in discussions, and 4) data collection on the occurrence of values archetypes, for example, within specific roles and sectors. We would like to invite conference delegates to think along, and help us develop this self-assessment tool.