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Agency, Power and Influence in Integrated Healthcare: A Relational Perspective Using Actor-Network Theory
Date
2025-09-01
Abstract
In response to evolving challenges in healthcare delivery, there has been a shift towards integrated, collaborative models of care. This developmental paper applies Actor-Network Theory (ANT) to understand how power and influence shape the agency of actors—both human and non-human—within integrated care networks. The study is situated in Ireland and uses data collected from four action-based focus group workshops conducted between February and April 2025. A total of 24 healthcare professionals participated, representing diverse roles including general practice, nursing, social work, and digital health. ANT’s concepts of distributed agency, translation, and generalised symmetry offer a lens to examine how integrated care efforts are assembled, sustained, or destabilised. Findings will contribute theoretically by extending ANT into applied healthcare settings and practically by offering insights into how to enhance collaborative practices in integrated care through more balanced recognition of power and influence across actors.
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Description
Publisher
University of Limerick
Citation
British Academy of Management 2025 University of Kent United Kingdom
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Ryan_2025_Agency.pdf
Adobe PDF, 62.07 KB
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Funding code
Funding Information
Sustainable Development Goals
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License
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International