Abstract: Submission #87

Abstract Social workers in healthcare settings play a vital role, collaborating with a variety of professionals such as doctors, nurses, psychologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. This study explored the experiences of social workers in multidisciplinary teams (MDT's), focusing on their perceptions, challenges and understanding of their professional role. A qualitative case study design was adopted, using a purposeful sampling technique to select sixteen participants from King Cetshwayo Health District. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically to identify key experiences and issues related to multidisciplinary collaborative work. The study revealed that despite social workers' valuable contribution in the area of patient care, they often experience exclusion from critical processes, consultations and decision-making within MDTs. Participants reported prevailing sense of marginalisation, powerlessness, and a lack of confidence in asserting their professional role. The four major themes that emerged included the persistent lack of role clarity regarding the scope and responsibilities of social workers within healthcare teams; the hierarchical nature of team structures, which often undermined social work contributions, the ineffective interprofessional communication, limiting collaboration and mutual understanding, and limited understanding of the social work profession by other healthcare practitioners. The study brought about insight into critical barriers to effective multidisciplinary collaborations and underscores the need for strengthening the professional identity of social work. it is recommended that efforts be made to support social workers in asserting their professional roles within MDTs, foster greater understanding and respect for social work contributions among other healthcare professionals and develop educational curricula that emphasise integrated and multidisciplinary working to better prepare social workers for collaborative healthcare environments.