Teambuilding across healthcare professions: the ELDER project.

BACKGROUND

The key to ensuring quality care for older adults is a nursing workforce that collaborates across professions and provider levels (Wright M.C., Phillips-Bute, B.G., Petrusa, E.R., Griffin, K.L., Hobbs, G.W., & Taekman, J.M. (2008). Assessing teamwork in medical education and practice: Relating behavioural teamwork ratings and clinical performance. Med Teach, 29, 1-9).

PURPOSE

To improve communication and teamwork among interprofessional health care providers (HCPs) by using innovative teambuilding activities over three years.

PARTICIPANTS

97 multi-disciplinary HCPs from five long term or home care agencies in an underserved region of New England. PARTICIPANTS attended six interactive sessions focused on teambuilding skills through the use of role play, case studies, games, exercises and teambuilding strategies. The J. A. Hartford Foundation's (John A. Hartford Foundation. (2001). The John A. Hartford Foundation Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) Program. Available at: http://www.nygec.org/index.cfm?section_id=26&sub_section_id=18&page_id=98) Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) instrument and Interdisciplinary Teamwork IQ test were used to measure changes in knowledge and attitudes.

RESULTS

T tests performed on matched pre/post GITT instruments (n=26) revealed no significant change, although scores improved slightly from pre: (71%) to post test (73.3%) (p=.39). Teamwork IQ scores also improved slightly though not significantly. Qualitative data gathered suggest that teambuilding exercises were helpful in practice and allowed for better understanding of other provider roles.

CONCLUSIONS

Rarely is a variety of health care disciplines invited to participate in educational opportunities together. The interprofessional small group methodology used is a replicable model with potential to overcome barriers in communication and teamwork skills.