Inter-Organizational Collaboration: The Process of Creating a Joint Statement

Students with disabilities benefit from a team-based approach to support their needs. Individuals from occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and speech-language pathology (SLP) partnered to form an interprofessional (IP) workgroup to address the topic of student-centered collaborative goal writing in the context of school-based practice.

This IP workgroup engaged in a collaborative process centered around a shared goal which integrated reflection and discussion sur¬rounding barriers to teaming, collaborative goal writing, and summarizing best practices from the healthcare and special education literature. This process required development of a shared goal, common language, and collaboration across professions and organizations.

The workgroup process created a consensus document, the Joint Statement on Interprofessional Collaborative Goals in School-Based Practice, to provide guidance for school-based practitioners to support student success. Following inter-organizational expert review, the statement was endorsed by three professional organizations and disseminated to practitioners via their respective organizational websites.

This paper outlines the innovative process used by an interprofessional, inter-organizational workgroup to develop and disseminate a consensus document outlining practical guidelines for interprofessional teams working in the educational setting. Additionally, this workgroup created associated professional development materials and presented them to OTs, PTs, and SLPs at a national level.