An Exploration of Perceptions of Interprofessional Collaboration and Rural Mental Health
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Date
2009-04-21T14:34:35Z
Authors
Kilfoil, Jennifer
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Abstract
Interprofessional collaborative practice has been found to have benefits both for
patient/client care and for health professionals (Baggs & Schmitt, 1997; Zwarenstein et
al., 2005; Zwarenstein & Bryant, 2000; D’Amour et al., 2005; Henneman et al., 1995).
Most of this research has been conducted in urban settings and few studies have
examined how working in teams may function to treat mental health in rural
communities. There are a number of challenges to working in rural communities: a
shortage of health care professionals, low resources, high turn over rates, elevated
feelings of burnout, minimal social support, job dissatisfaction, and geographical and
transportation issues (Hutten-Czapski, 2001; Kee, Johnson & Hunt, 2002; Sutton &
Patterson, 2002; Thorngren, 2003; Barbopoulos & Clark, 2003). Interprofessional
collaboration may offer a means of addressing the challenges faced by rural communities
because working with other professionals may increase professional satisfaction and
reduce feelings of isolation and burnout. This thesis research project had two foci, first,
to examine perceptions of interprofessional collaboration among health care professionals
working in a rural area, and second, to explore the factors associated with treating mental
health in a rural community.
The setting for this research was a rural community in Newfoundland. Twelve
health care professionals participated in this study: a guidance counsellor, a youth
worker, three social workers, a police officer, a family physician, a community health
nurse, a mental health counsellor, an occupational therapist, and two nurse practitioners.
Qualitative methodology was used for the research design and all professionals
participated in face-to-face interviews.
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Participants strongly endorsed the value of interprofessional collaboration in
treating mental health issues in their community. They identified benefits for
patients/clients such as enhanced quality of care. Professionals also identified increased
support, feeling valued and respected, and improved decision-making as benefits for
them professionally. Participants saw teamwork as advantageous in treating mental
health issues because it provided comprehensive care that assisted in keeping
patients/clients in their home community. Drawbacks were that interprofessional
collaboration can be time consuming and it is difficult to maintain patient/client
confidentiality in a small community. Factors that helped enable interprofessional
collaboration included familiarity and trust, physical proximity, being located in a rural
community, and professionals’ strong connections and commitment to the community
while challenges to treating mental health included a lack of facilities, programs, and
human resources, as well as high workload among professionals.
Description
Keywords
Care teams , Mental health , Attitudes , Employees , Mental health facilities , Mental health services , Public opinion , Newfoundland and Labrador , Rural mental health services