Embedding Social Work in Interprofessional Primary Health Care Teams: A Scoping Review

Abstract

ABSTRACT In countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, increasingly, social work is included in primary health care teams, but how it becomes meaningfully integrated into interprofessional team-based care remains insufficiently understood. This study employed a scoping review to synthesise how social work integrates into interprofessional primary health care teams, with particular emphasis on collaborative mechanisms and team-based workflows. Following Arksey and O’Malley's framework and PRISMA-ScR reporting, reviewers searched five major English-language databases, and included 31 articles. Thematic synthesis identified three broad patterns. These were embedding arrangements shaped by colocation and team infrastructure; collaboration mechanisms enacted through routinised meetings, continuous boundary work, and organisational enabling conditions; and team-based workflows in which social work was commonly activated by psychosocial complexity, but functional integration depended on explicit handoff scripts, shared documentation, and ethically governed information-sharing. Overall, integration emerged as an organisational accomplishment rather than simply a staffing decision. Durable embedding appeared to require repeatable access routes, coordination routines, and information systems that made social work consistently mobilisable and evaluable in everyday primary health care practice. IMPLICATIONS Employing a social worker does not automatically produce integrated care. Primary health care teams need clear referral triggers, structured referral pathways, regular case discussions, and shared documentation so that social work is routinely accessible within shared care. Shared records, consistent documentation, and agreed information-sharing processes can help social work input circulate across the team, inform care planning, and be more visible and evaluable. In the Australian context, strengthening social work in primary health care may require more than adding roles; it depends on service models, team routines, and educational preparation that support role clarity, interdisciplinary communication, and coordinated care. Future research should move beyond role descriptions and satisfaction outcomes to examine specific team workflows, including how social work is activated, communicated, and incorporated into patient and caregiver services.