Patient roles within interprofessional collaborative patient-centred care teams: The patient and health care provider perspectives

Abstract

<p>With current rapid expansions to medical knowledge and technology and rising chronicity of diseases, health care providers are increasingly called upon to work together within interprofessional teams to provide the most comprehensive care to their patients. Interprofessional teams have been depicted as enhancing patient health outcomes and increasing patient satisfaction with care, while decreasing health care spending and wait times for receiving care. However, there is little evidence on how to collaboratively include patients in these teams. The study’s purpose was to construct a framework on the conditions and processes required for patients to assume active participant roles in their care within primary care interprofessional teams. Charmaz’s Constructivist Grounded Theory approach was used. Ten patients and 10 health care providers from two Family Health Teams in Southwestern Ontario, Canada participated in individual semi-structured interviews to learn about their perspectives on patient roles in teams. Data collection and analysis including memoing, coding and constant comparative analysis were used to generate theoretical concepts of the framework. Memberchecking interviews occurred to provide final feedback on the framework. The framework entitled: “Patients on Interprofessional Teams in Primary Care: A Framework for Teamwork” presents three main concepts: (1) patient roles; (2) processes; and (3) conditions. The patient roles concept comprises three sub-concepts with each having two categories/descriptors: (1) expert of own health – expressive and advisor; (2) (co)decision-maker – active voice and trusting; and (3) self-manager – advocate and evaluator of care. The processes concept presents five sub-concepts: (1) explain; (2) identify; (3) educate; (4) build; and (5) collaborate. The conditions concept outlines four sub-concepts: (1) flexibility; (2) time; (3) willingness; and (4) readiness. This study presents a comprehensive framework for patient-health care provider iii interactions within primary care interprofessional teams, including dimensions of and more clarity about three types of roles patients can assume within these teams. This study also offers an understanding of the conditions and processes health care providers adopt in practice towards patient inclusion on these teams. Further research should utilize this framework to continue to build knowledge of patient roles on interprofessional teams within a multitude of health care settings and populations. </p>