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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Helena Temkin-Greener, PhD, Dana B. Mukamel, PhD, and Diane Gross, PhD. Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 644, Rochester, NY 14642, 585 275 7813, helena_greener@urmc.rochester.edu
Last decade witnessed an increased recognition of the importance of interdisciplinary teamwork in health care and its impact on quality of care. Interdisciplinary teams are viewed as a central ingredient in effective and efficient management of populations with complex care needs. PACE serves the very frail elderly whose medical and long-term care services are managed by teams of physicians, nurses, therapists, social workers, personal care aides, and others. In this study, we compare the performance of teams in 26 PACE sites using a survey tool adapted from one developed by Shortell (1991, 1992). This tool assesses how well the teams function in terms of the following domains --- leadership, team cohesion, communication and coordination, conflict management, team effectiveness, workplace stress, and workplace staffing/supplies. A survey containing 81 items measuring each of these domains, and including questions on work satisfaction, education, work experience and demographics was sent to 1,884 individuals with patient care responsibilities in the participating PACE sites. 1,216 surveys were returned, representing a weighted completion rate of 64.5% (61.5% among aides and 67.5% among professional staff). Five point Likert scale is used to measure the domains of teamwork effectiveness. The results are analyzed using descriptive and multivariate statistical methods to compare the performance of the 26 sites vis a vis each domain. The results shed light on areas of team performance that may need improvement, and eventually will be used to test the utility of such measures in explaining site-specific variations in patient outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.