Open Collections

Voices of healthcare workers : experience of being on an interdisciplinary team in hospice palliative care

University of British Columbia

Having a model of interdisciplinary teamwork is an important part of clinical practice in hospice palliative care. It plays an integral role in providing patient care by multi-disciplines of healthcare professionals who are required to address the intricate needs of patients at the end of life. Yet, the nature of participating in an interdisciplinary patient care team has not been fully understood in theory or clinical work. The purpose of this research was to generate an understanding of the experience of being on an interdisciplinary team in hospice palliative care through healthcare workers’ own voices, using a content analysis method in a qualitative research paradigm. A total of 11 healthcare professionals across medical and psychosocial disciplines participated in this study. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with these participants and were analyzed for thematic contents. The following six themes regarding the nature and quality of working as a member of an interdisciplinary team emerged; (a) collaborative work, (b) quality of relationships, (c) communication, (d) team building activities, (e) personal qualities, and (f) institutional influence. A conceptual framework is proposed as an “integrative and multidimensional” model of an interdisciplinary team approach to hospice palliative care. The proposed model offers a holistic view of an interdisciplinary team approach. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed. Further, suggestions are offered in order to enrich the understanding of interdisciplinary teamwork, to enhance the quality of patient care, to support and advocate the well-being of healthcare workers, and to develop accountability for hospice palliative care programs.

Text

2012-04-23

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42209

Counselling Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/