Understanding interprofessional collaboration in the context of chronic disease management for older adults living in communities: a concept analysis

Abstract

Aim To report a concept analysis of interprofessional collaboration in the context of chronic disease management, for older adults living in communities. Background Increasing prevalence of chronic disease among older adults is creating significant burden for patients, families and healthcare systems. Managing chronic disease for older adults living in the community requires interprofessional collaboration across different health and other care providers, organizations and sectors. However, there is a lack of consensus about the definition and use of interprofessional collaboration for community-based chronic disease management. Design Concept analysis. Data sources Electronic databases CINAHL, Medline, HealthStar, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Ageline and Cochrane Database were searched from 2000 - 2013. Methods Rodgers' evolutionary method for concept analysis. Results The most common surrogate term was interdisciplinary collaboration. Related terms were interprofessional team, multidisciplinary team and teamwork. Attributes included: an evolving interpersonal process; shared goals, decision-making and care planning; interdependence; effective and frequent communication; evaluation of team processes; involving older adults and family members in the team; and diverse and flexible team membership. Antecedents comprised: role awareness; interprofessional education; trust between team members; belief that interprofessional collaboration improves care; and organizational support. Consequen…