Interprofessional team building in the palliative home care setting: Use of a conceptual framework to inform a pilot evaluation

ABSTRACTHome-based palliative care is increasingly dependent on interprofessional teams to deliver collaborative care that more adequately meets the needs of clients and families. The purpose of this pilot evaluation was to qualitatively explore the views of an interprofessional group of home care providers (occupational therapists, nurses, personal support work supervisors, community care coordinators, and a team coordinator) regarding a pilot project encouraging teamwork in interprofessional palliative home care services. We used qualitative methods, informed by an interprofessional conceptual framework, to analyse participants’ accounts and provide recommendations regarding strategies for interprofessional team building in palliative home health care. Findings suggest that encouraging practitioners to share past experiences and foster common goals for palliative care are important elements of team building in interprofessional palliative care. Also, establishing a team leader who emphasises sharing pow...