Interprofessional working in hospice day care and the patients' experience of the service.

Abstract

This in-depth study of hospice day care considers professional team working and patient experience of the service. It includes an analysis of how patients' time is spent. The qualitative single case study design involved patient and staff interviews, observations and document analysis. A theoretical framework of interprofessional working informed the study. Analysis of the data revealed a range of goals, variable communication patterns and the existence of core and extended teams. The results challenge the theoretical literature by suggesting that the presence of a team structure alone did not promote interprofessional working. Patients were also seen as integral members of the team. Their experience of day care was a social one, with a wide range of patients identified unmet needs, day care was largely seen as positive. This was despite interprofessional working not clearly being identified in the results. Suggestions for future research are made and implications for practice discussed.