Use of Collaborative Technologies for Knowledge Management in Psychiatric Hospitals in Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

This article concerns the study examining the use of collaborative technologies (CTs) for the acquisition, creation, sharing, transfer, and retention of knowledge by therapy team members (TTMs) in psychiatric hospitals, and the determinants of the use of CTs as well as how they relate to knowledge management (KM) practices. The skills of the TTMs in the use of CTs were also investigated. Carried out within the positivist and constructivist paradigms, a sample survey was conducted among TTMs from two purposively selected psychiatric hospitals in Southwest Nigeria. Quantitative data was collected from self-administered questionnaires completed by 283 TTMs and was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 22. Qualitative data was collected from interviews conducted with four heads of departments. The study showed that the TTMs in the relevant hospitals used 26 different CTs for knowledge acquisition, creation, sharing, transfer, and retention. The largest proportion (84.5%) of the respondents confirmed that skill in the use of CTs determined the use of CTs for KM practices. More than half (54.3%) of the TTMs were highly skilled in the use of CTs for KM practices. The findings suggested that the respondents were positively inclined towards the use of CTs and that they were involved in the use of various CTs to facilitate KM practices and processes. It was found that task interdependence was characteristic of the TTMs’ work in the selected psychiatric hospitals, and that, to benefit from the potential advantages of task interdependence and to effectively employ CTs in operations and processes, TTMs’ skills in the use of CTs should be developed. In addition, professional ties among experts in different fields of specialisation should be encouraged.