It starts with a strong foundation: constructing collaborative interprofessional teams in primary health care

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how team members experience and enact interprofessional teamwork in primary health care (PHC). Fifty-three participants (from eight teams), members of the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO), were interviewed; interviews were aud...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of interprofessional care 2021-07, Vol.35 (4), p.514-520
Main Authors: Brown, Judith Belle, Mulder, Carol, Clark, Rebecca E., Belsito, Laura, Thorpe, Cathy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Collaboration
Health care
Interdisciplinary aspects
interprofessional teams
Leadership
Patients
Primary care
Primary health care
qualitative
Qualitative research
Scope of practice
Team building
Teams
Teamwork
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Summary:The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how team members experience and enact interprofessional teamwork in primary health care (PHC). Fifty-three participants (from eight teams), members of the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO), were interviewed; interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. The data analyses used an iterative process with individual and team analysis. Findings revealed components that comprise the foundation and pillars of collaborative interprofessional teamwork in PHC. First, participants described a shared philosophsy of teamwork with six elements: values, vision, and mission; collaboration; communication; trust; respect and team members that 'fit.' Second, findings revealed three 'pillars.' The first pillar, leadership, included the elements of specific leadership attributes, such as leaders encouraging teamwork, mitigating conflict, and facilitating change. In the second pillar, participants described three elements of team building: formal and informal team building activities plus how these activities benefited both the team and patient care. The last pillar, optimizing scope of practice, included the elements of recognizing, appreciating, utilizing, and expanding team members' scope of practice. While each component and their concomitant elements can be enacted individually, collectively applying all elements produces collaborative interprofessional teamwork in primary health care.
ISSN:1356-1820
1469-9567
DOI:10.1080/13561820.2020.1787360