Knowledge brokering across organizational and occupational boundaries: The case of healthcare

Our study focuses upon the interaction of individual level knowledge brokering roles and institutional context. We examine how occupational affiliation and associated power differentials impact upon individual knowledge brokering. We consider how knowledge brokering might be distributed more widely for organizational benefit. Our empirical case, which combines social network analysis and qualitative fieldwork, is set in healthcare with a focus upon integration of clinical and psycho-social knowledge domains deemed necessary for effective management of a long-term condition. Our study shows that peer-to-peer knowledge brokering, which is framed by professional hierarchy, remains pervasive with respect to medical knowledge exchange. It also shows how such social structures might be mediated through developing group level affiliation that transcends disparate professional domains.