Working together during major incidents and emergencies: Optimizing interoperability using the Social Identity Approach

Description of impact

This research demonstrates that failures in joint working among responders from different emergency services often stem from issues of multiple and competing identities within multi-agency teams. Applying the Social Identity Approach, the findings show that fostering a shared sense of ‘us-ness’ can improve collaborationbetween responders from different response organisations, while structural and cultural barriers can hinder it. This research offers five key recommendations for policy and training including integrating social identity principles into training, promoting identity-based leadership, addressing structural barriers to collaboration, supporting responders’ social and emotional needs, and strengthening inter-team communication. These recommendations help to improve joint working between responders, ultimately helping to save lives and reduce harm.

Impact date	28 Aug 2025
Category of impact	Health impacts