چکیده (انگلیسی):

Background:The visions of more integrated care have created new roles and accountabilities for organizations
and professionals. Thus, professionals are increasingly expected to engage in boundary spanning activities in order
to facilitate inter-organizational and inter-sectoral collaboration. However, this task can be difficult for individual
actors and it is important to investigate the work and challenges of boundary spanners in various settings. This
study explores the challenges related to a new boundary spanning role for general practitioners employed to
facilitate collaboration between the municipalities and general practice.
Methods:The study is based on semi-structured interviews with ten general practitioners acting as municipal
practice consultants in the Capital Region of Denmark. The transcribed interviews were analyzed in several steps
organizing the material into a set of coherent and distinct categories covering the different types of challenges
experienced by the informants.
Results:The main challenges of the general practitioners acting as boundary spanners were: 1) defining and
negotiating the role in terms of tasks and competencies; 2) representing and mobilizing colleagues in general
practice; 3) navigating in an unfamiliar organizational context.
Conclusions:The results support previous studies in emphasizing the difficult and multifaceted character of the
boundary spanning role. While some of these challenges are not easily dealt with due to their structural causes,
organizations employing boundary spanners should take note of these challenges and support their boundary
spanners with matching resources and competencies.