Understanding decision-making in interprofessional team meetings through interpretative repertoires and discursive...

Area of Science:

• Discursive Psychology
• Health Services Research
• Communication Studies

Background:

• Interprofessional team meetings are crucial for coordinating care for patients with complex health needs.
• Existing research often overlooks the nuanced role of language in team dynamics and decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how healthcare team members use language to enact collaboration or disengagement during interprofessional team meetings.
• To explore the impact of discursive practices on subject positioning and decision-making within healthcare teams.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 108 transcribed case discussions from interprofessional team meetings.
• Application of critical discursive psychology to identify interpretative repertoires and discursive devices.
• Examination of linguistic resources and their role in professional knowledge articulation and perspective-taking.

Main Results:

• Healthcare practitioners utilized empiricist and lifeworld interpretative repertoires and perspective-taking strategies.
• Administrative support, such as protected turn-taking, is insufficient for fostering genuine interprofessional collaboration.
• The 'argumentative texture' of discussions influences the effectiveness of collaboration.

Conclusions:

• Health practitioners can improve team contributions and patient care by consciously employing Other-oriented perspectives alongside professional knowledge.
• Expanding discursive repertoires and understanding the broader context of institutional and societal norms are key to enhancing interprofessional communication and knowledge sharing.