Study of a health team in a family practice residency program

Includes bibliographical references (pages 127-132)The purpose of this study was to collect baseline\ud data on a health team and to identify areas of teamwork\ud where interventions might improve team functioning. The study population consisted of staff from a Family Practice Residency Program, grouped into the\ud following categories: administrative, consultant, and\ud direct-patient care. A questionnaire was developed and administered to the study population.\ud From the findings it was concluded that 1) a\ud health team existed and its composition was relatively\ud clearly defined; 2) team members supported and listened\ud to one another and had influence over what happened in\ud their work setting; 3) team members understood the job\ud functions of all but a few staff members; 4) job overlap\ud occurred most frequently among team members who worked\ud closely together and overlap usually did not result in conflict; 5) team members did not ignore disagreements; 6) the case conference and team meeting were the most\ud effective meetings; 7) effective meetings had specific\ud characteristics which supported collaboration, and; 8)\ud the health team was advantageous to team members and\ud patients. It was recommended that team members spend time\ud examining the following elements of teamwork: 1) leadership,\ud supervision and decision making patterns; 2) how\ud conflicts are resolved; 3) how job overlap occurs;\ud 4) orientation to the health team; 5) roles and expectations\ud of each team member and; 6) meetings, particularly\ud the faculty meeting. It was also suggested that consultants assist the\ud team in confronting the above issues and in testing\ud various hypotheses related to the health team concept.\ud xi