The work focuses on the interdisciplinary approach to working with adolescents with complex needs in residential care settings. More specifically, the work thematically focuses on understanding complex needs and the recognition of the importance of interdisciplinary approach, its process conceptualisation and the characteristics and dynamics of collaboration among different professionals in developing holistic support. In doing so, it addresses the identification of different professional and user perspectives, as well as the importance of participation in the process. The thesis is based on theoretical framework that provide an important foundational orientation for the chosen field and serve as a source for interpreting the findings of the empirical part. These frameworks first define the concept of complex needs and the factors influencing their occurrence, deepening the understanding through several, primarily social-pedagogical, concepts. The work then connects interdisciplinarity as a key approach of professional response, identifies potential challenges from past researches, and situates it within the context of residential care in Slovenia. By presenting models of interdisciplinary collaboration highlighted both in Slovenia and abroad and Müller's evaluative model, a framework is established for the empirical part of the thesis. Within this empirical section, two case studies are used to illustrate the concrete process of establishing interdisciplinary approach and the characteristics of collaboration in the process of developing support, capturing multiple perspectives in the research. The results of the study ultimately demonstrate that professionals generally share a consistent understanding of the concept of complex needs and the necessity of specifically integrated professional approaches, which provides a solid foundation for meeting the expectations of interdisciplinary support. The basis of interdisciplinary collaboration — the division of roles and responsibilities, the practice of team meetings and information sharing, and the design and delivery of support — is in principle complementarily structured and consistent with legislative expectations and guidelines. However, in practice challenges arise, most often related to the coordination of professional work, the dynamics of collaboration, the alignment of expectations, and the fulfilment of bureaucratic obligations. All of which can affect the quality of interdisciplinary support. The perspective of the adolescents captured in the study offers important insight into their first-hand experience of the support provided and the collaboration of professionals, revealing that enabling participation has an encouraging effect and that the (in)consistency among professionals is often clearly perceptible. The study thus makes an important contribution to the transparency of the concrete process of interdisciplinary approach and collaboration, while identifying the necessary starting points for further development, directed towards strengthening already recognised good practices and introducing changes at both the professional and systemic levels.
|
