Health systems integration: competing or shared mental models?

Over the past two decades, most scholars have focused on the structural and process challenges involved in delivering integrated care. The resulting knowledge on barriers and enablers has informed many positive system changes. However, researchers and practitioners continue to emphasize the seemingly intractable problems inherent in fostering collaboration and cooperation across professional and organizational boundaries. This dissertation argues that these ongoing challenges point towards the need to supplement existing frameworks and practices focused on structure, process and culture, with an understanding of the social cognitions that characterize the behaviours of actors within health care systems.