Anna Klarare
Ersta Sköndal Bräcke University College, Sweden
Title: Team Function in Specialist Palliative Home Care – patients’, families’ and health care professionals’ perspectives
Biography
Biography: Anna Klarare
Abstract
Persons with life-threatening illness are increasingly being cared for and dying at home. Palliative care strives to cater to multiple dimensions in persons, such as physical, psychosocial and spiritual or existential, and meeting these needs in patients and families requires multiple competencies. Palliative care organizations like the WHO and the EAPC, as well as Swedish national guidelines, propose organization and delivery of care in teamwork models, however, teamwork is complex and in health care, team members often vary from shift to shift. The overall aim of the project was to explore perspectives of team function in specialist palliative care teams, among health care professionals, patients and families, in order to gain a deeper knowledge of structures and relationships so as to optimize team functioning. Results of the studies are: (I) health care professionals report that competence, communication and organization are crucial components of teamwork in specialist palliative homecare, (II) patients and families report that they experience security and continuity of care due to 24/7 availability, flexibility and sensitivity to changing needs and a collective team approach that fostered experiences of continuity of care, and (III) that the 77 participating teams in the Swedish context all have a core of registered nurses, physicians and social workers, while physiotherapists and occupational therapists were present in most teams. The explored teams have existed from 7-21 years, are foremost of medium size and tend to work in an integrated manner, rather than in parallel. Positive associations were found between team maturity and team effectiveness. Based on our findings, clarification of team goals and professional roles together with development of psychosocial traits and team processes should be prioritized in clinical settings. Patients and families will most likely experience that their needs are met and feel greater satisfaction with care provided by mature teams.