Effective Team Practices: Interprofessional Contributions to Communication Issues With a Parent's Perspective

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Special Education
• Speech-Language Pathology

Background:

• Effective team building is crucial for providing quality care to children with severe disabilities.
• Interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) enhances care coordination among diverse professionals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the construction of effective teams utilizing IPCP.
• To integrate special education professionals, speech-language pathologists, and families in team building for children with severe disabilities.

Main Methods:

• The study outlines 6 essential elements of team building: goal-setting, roles/responsibilities, process, communication, problem-solving, and evaluation.
• It integrates the 4 competency domains of IPCP into each team-building element.
• Suggestions for family inclusion in each element are provided.

Main Results:

• A case study highlighted a parent's challenges with team-building elements when seeking communication services.
• The case illustrates potential difficulties in implementing IPCP across all essential team-building components.

Conclusions:

• Building teams through IPCP can effectively include families in the care of individuals with severe disabilities.
• This collaborative approach leads to high-quality outcomes for children with severe disabilities.