Hospice Core Professions' Views on Interdisciplinary Teams: A Qualitative Investigation

The hospice interdisciplinary team (IDT) has been recognized as an ideal model for interprofessional collaboration. To address the manner in which interdisciplinary practices are perceived by team members, this study explored profession-based similarities and differences in perceptions among the four core hospice IDT members (physicians, nurses, social workers, and spiritual care providers) as well as experiences on the IDT. Semistructured interviews with 20 hospice professionals, 5 from each profession, were completed. Findings suggested that while hospice professions share some perceptions and experiences about hospice team membership, strengths of and barriers to teamwork, and individual members' contribution to the team, significant profession-based differences exist largely in the area of hospice team membership beyond the core members, type of language and descriptions used, perceptions of causes and effects of barriers to teamwork, and understandings of how team effectiveness is evaluated. Changes at the team-based, organizational, policy, and educational levels are needed to further maximize strengths of individual hospice IDT member and team qualities.