Primary health care team effectiveness: developing a constituency approach

Abstract

The difficulties of developing theoretically sound and practically useful models of primary health care team effectiveness are described. Three models of team effectiveness: the goal model; the internal process model; and the systems resource model are discussed in relation to the work of primary health care team (PHCTs). The value of the constituency approach is also examined and it is suggested that this is the most appropriate model for the situations of PHCTs. This paper describes an application of the constituency approach in developing measures of effectiveness for PHCTs. Results yielded effectiveness criteria in four major areas: consumer outcomes; quality of care; team viability; and organizational issues. The disadvantages of the constituency model are explored and the next steps in research towards developing a model of PHCT effectiveness is indicated.