Integration of health services: eight theses on interaction in a functionally differentiated health service

Abstract

Strengthening interaction in the health service is a key political and professional goal. Political objectives are often also the starting point for studies and analyzes of interaction at the expense of more theoretically based perspectives. This article seeks to remedy the theory deficit in the research field by presenting a theoretical perspective on interaction and integration in the health service. More specifically, we ask what are the prerequisites for interaction in the health service, and how interaction can create social integration. Inspired by Luhmann's theory of social systems and more recent Scandinavian systems theory, we present eight theses about interaction in what we describe as a functionally differentiated health service.