Reflection in an intermediate care team

Abstract

Objectives Reflection has been cited as an effective method of providing evidence of professional development, learning and continued competence. Reflection in teams is thought to develop trust within the team and greater understanding of other team members' roles and responsibilities. The aim of this qualitative study was to describe the experiences and perceptions of reflection by members of an intermediate care team. Design Phenomenological design, consisting of individual semi-structured audiotaped interviews. The interviews were transcribed and read to gain understanding. Themes were identified and grouped into categories. Participants Ten members of a multidisciplinary intermediate care team were interviewed. Findings Team reflection had not been developed formally in the intermediate care team, although many of the prerequisites for team reflection were present. Team members primarily used dialogical reflection in clinical practice as a problem-solving tool. Written reflection was limited, with its use being dependent on the skills, level of training and postqualification support of the participants. Conclusion A formal structure and managerial support is necessary to facilitate team reflection. Additional postgraduate support is required to enable team members to utilise written reflection effectively. Further research to investigate reflection in health and social care teams is warranted.

Evidence of a shared purpose, critical reflection, innovation and leadership in interprofessional healthcare teams: a realist synthesis

“…When the mechanism was absent, teams did not formally review their performance or the outcome of specific situations together. Reflection sometimes still occurred, but within uniprofessional or other small groups or in an ad hoc, informal way (Sutton & Dalley, 2008).…”

The Gap Between Perceived and Actual Learning From Group Reflection

“…As indicated above, one potential moderator of the relationship between group reflection and learning outcomes is the content of the reflection itself (Sutton & Dalley, 2008). Many of the earlier studies of group reflection (or group reflexivity; West, 1996) involve case studies in which group reflection is self-reported after the fact, so the actual content of the reflection cannot be observed (Moreland & McMinn, 2010).…”

“…Systematic consideration should also be given to the questions used to elicit individual and group reflections. Although most reflection interventions ask individuals to think about strategies for improving their performance (e.g., Gurtner et al, 2007), little research has considered whether the types of questions are likely to yield different forms of reflection and whether different types of reflection (e.g., reflection on task strategies versus reflecting on the quality of the group’s interactions) are more or less valuable in facilitating performance (Moreland & McMinn, 2010; Sutton & Dalley, 2008). It may be that more specific, concrete questions (“What were two specific strategies that you could use to improve in the future?”) are more useful than open-ended, general questions (e.g., “What are some suggestions for how you could improve task performance in the future?”).…”