Main description:

Both comprehensive and accessible, this is an ideal resource for anyone who plans to teach or practice integrated, cost-effective healthcare in the 21st century.

Currently, there is no coordinated system for training health-profession students to address the needs of patients with complex illnesses, nor is there a coordinated system for effectively delivering care to these patients. This book explores both sides of the problem, bringing interprofessional practice and education together to show how they are complementary-and how they can be integrated to provide better care.

In many respects, this book is a personal account of the authors' experience with interprofessional teamwork and education over the past 40 years. It discusses what works and what doesn't and includes interviews, examples, and case studies that illustrate the perspectives of healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers. This second edition illuminates ways in which today's business model has changed interprofessional healthcare team practice and education, and it examines the needs of patients relative to healthcare teams and practitioner education. An entire chapter is devoted to the patient's position as both teacher and learner in relation to the team. The theoretical foundations of practice and education are highlighted, but the book also shares models that can be used for the practical development of programs.

Explores the complexities of interprofessional teamwork and education, addressing both practice and teaching

Discusses how patients are affected by healthcare providers who do not function as a cohesive team and looks at the patient's role in teamwork

Offers a detailed model of interprofessional teamwork based on the authors' experience with a long-term, well-functioning interprofessional healthcare team

Uses illustrative narratives and case studies to provide examples of the concepts and principles presented

Includes a chapter based on interviews with patients and their caregivers to highlight experiences with functional and dysfunctional teams

Presents new topics, such as critical areas of practice (primary care, long-term care, and transitions of care); ethical issues in teamwork; educational theory; the use of narrative; and challenges in sustaining interprofessional education