Examining the extent and factors associated with interprofessional teamwork in primary care settings

Abstract

Despite growing emphasis on adopting team-based models of primary care to facilitate patient access to a diverse range of care providers, our understanding of team functioning within primary care teams remains limited. This study examined interprofessional teamwork within primary care practices (Family Health Teams [FHT] and Community Health Centers - [CHC]) in Ontario and explored team-level and organizational factors associated with interprofessional teamwork. Interprofessional teamwork was measured using the Collaborative Practice Assessment Tool (CPAT), which was completed by providers in each participating team. The CPAT responses of 988 providers representing on average 12 professions (sd = 2.1) across 66 teams (44 FHTs and 22 CHCs) were included in the analysis. The average CPAT score was 46.6 (sd = 2.5). CHCs had significantly higher CPAT scores than FHTs (m diff = 1.7, p = .02). Using diverse communication mechanisms to share information, increasing quality improvement capacities, and age of practice, had a statistically significant positive association with CPAT scores. Increasing team size, using centralized administrative processes, a high level of information exchange, and having a mixed governance board were significantly negatively associated with CPAT score. Findings illustrate factors associated with interprofessional teamwork and offer insight into the comparative performance of two team-based primary care models in Ontario.

Exploring Intra and Interorganizational Integration Efforts Involving the Primary Care Sector – A Case Study from Ontario

“…The lead agency is required to take ownership of operational, management and agenda-setting aspects for each Health Link [ 32 40 ]. To allow for an in-depth examination of the possible interplay between interprofessional collaboration within primary care practices is associated with interorganizational collaboration, two Health Links led by interprofessional primary care teams that had previously participated in a survey of interprofessional collaboration [ 41 ], were selected as case studies. The use of a case study design was selected to allow for an in-depth multi-faceted exploration of how organizations were collaborating within the boundaries of a Health Link [ 42 ].…”

“…The cases for this study were based on a larger study of 66 primary care teams that completed the CPAT survey [ 41 ]. The mean CPAT score across participating practices was 46.6 (sd = 2.47); the small standard deviation revealed a limited spread of scores given the possible range of 0 to 56.…”

The Delivery of Patient Care in Ontario’s Family Health Teams during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Team-based primary care brings family physicians together to work in tandem with a range of interprofessional healthcare providers (IHPs) -such as nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, dietitians and pharmacists among others -in the same practice setting (Donnelly et al 2021). Primary care teams are associated with improved clinical outcomes, positive patient experiences and decreased healthcare utilization (Gocan et al 2014;Khan et al 2021;Manns et al 2012;Morgan et al 2020;Mulvale et al 2009;Strumpf et al 2017).…”

Percepções do preceptor sobre o processo ensino-aprendizagem e práticas colaborativas na atenção primária à saúde

“…Portanto, a qualificação do preceptor da APS deve ser pautada nos atributos fundamentais do trabalho em equipe e práticas interprofissionais colaborativas, o que inclui a adoção de um conjunto compartilhado de objetivos e metas comuns; comunicação entre os profissionais para implementação do cuidado compartilhado; relações de confiança e respeito mútuo entre os membros da equipe; interdependência e compreensão do papel de cada membro da equipe na produção de cuidado; poder e liderança compartilhados para o bom desenvolvimento do trabalho em equipe interprofissional; abordagem centrada na pessoa e na família por meio do envolvimento ativo em torno do plano de cuidados e tomada de decisões compartilhadas; e a participação de todos os membros da equipe em um processo colaborativo para minimizar o conflito (8) .…”