Abstract
BackgroundInterdisciplinary team work is increasingly prevalent, supported by policies and practices that bring care closer to the patient and challenge traditional professional boundaries. To date, there has been a great deal of emphasis on the processes of team work, and in some cases, outcomes.MethodThis study draws on two sources of knowledge to identify the attributes of a good interdisciplinary team; a published systematic review of the literature on interdisciplinary team work, and the perceptions of over 253 staff from 11 community rehabilitation and intermediate care teams in the UK. These data sources were merged using qualitative content analysis to arrive at a framework that identifies characteristics and proposes ten competencies that support effective interdisciplinary team work.ResultsTen characteristics underpinning effective interdisciplinary team work were identified: positive leadership and management attributes; communication strategies and structures; personal rewards, training and development; appropriate resources and procedures; appropriate skill mix; supportive team climate; individual characteristics that support interdisciplinary team work; clarity of vision; quality and outcomes of care; and respecting and understanding roles.ConclusionsWe propose competency statements that an effective interdisciplinary team functioning at a high level should demonstrate.
Highlights
Interdisciplinary team work is increasingly prevalent, supported by policies and practices that bring care closer to the patient and challenge traditional professional boundaries
We propose competency statements that an effective interdisciplinary team functioning at a high level should demonstrate
The findings presented in this paper draw on a systematic review of the literature relating to the components of interdisciplinary team work and the qualitative data derived from the implementation of the Interdisciplinary Management Tool (IMT)
Summary
Interdisciplinary team work is increasingly prevalent, supported by policies and practices that bring care closer to the patient and challenge traditional professional boundaries. Interdisciplinary team work is a complex process in which different types of staff work together to share expertise, knowledge, and skills to impact on patient care. Despite increasing emphasis on interdisciplinary team work over the past decade, in particular the growth of interdisciplinary education [1], there is little evidence as to the most effective way of delivering interdisciplinary team work [2] This difficulty is compounded by the multifactorial nature of team work, which comprises the skill mix, setting of care, service organisation, individual relationships and management structures. Terminology A wide range of terms are used to describe collaborative working arrangements between professionals [11] Terms such as interdisciplinary, interprofessional, multiprofessional, and multidisciplinary are often used interchangeably in the literature to refer to both different types of teams and different processes within them [12]. Other authors have suggested use of the prefixes multi-, inter- and trans- to reflect differing intensities of integration [17]
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