The Interdisciplinary Geriatric/Gerontological Team in the Academic Setting

Geriatric health care requires the services of an interdisciplinary health care team to assess, treat and order the social service needs of the older person, and this concept needs to be included in geriatric social work education. But while the necessity of interdisciplinary team care is recognized, little focus has been placed on the actual process of developing a functional team. The issues that arise-disparate terminologies, organizational and administrative differentials, turf-and the steps needed for a team to become viable are described, using an interdisciplinary team based in academia as a case model. The academic interdisciplinary team may easily become a forum for 'hot air' rather than a catalyst for good practice. This danger is reviewed with reference to stages in the interdisciplinary team development-- goal development group affiliation; team awareness; and goal evaluation. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the impact of the interdisciplinary team on faculty, students and the academic setting.