Today’s topic is on collaborative practice and the multidisciplinary team.
What is a multidisciplinary team ?
The multidisciplinary team consists of a variety of health care workers who work together to provide comprehensive treatment. Nurses, doctors, social workers, physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists are some of the health care workers who form part of the team. According to (Jefferies & Chan, 2004) the multidisciplinary team also know as the MDT aims to provide holistic treatment to patients during the course of their illness and at the different the three levels of care. (primary, secondary and tertiary) The coordinated effort of the team enables each disciplines therapy to complement and supplement each other. Good communication is a vital part when working with the MDT.
I was able to gather additional information about the patient from the other members of the MDT such as the nurses, previous OT and physiotherapist. My patient was referred to physiotherapy and a psychologist. The holistic approach was beneficial to the patient. At this chronic facility the MDT is able provide comprehensive treatment over a long period of time. An example of the MDT working together can be seen as the nurses allow the patient to perform as much as she can in self care tasks to continue to promote independence which the OT was working on.
Reflection on treatment session:
I did a leisure treatment session where the patient was positioned in the standing frame. She did nail care while in the standing frame. The activity was important to the patient as she previously studied to become a beautician. It helped to show the patient that there is a possibility for her to get a job in the same field in the future, and that she can skill meet the job demands even with the limitations of her condition. The aim was to maintain good postural control while in the standing frame. The standing frame would provide support therefore the patient did not need to focus on her balance to perform the fine motor task. However when the patient was put in the standing frame she had poor posture as she was hunched over the table to provide her with support. She also did not want to lift both hands up because she needed to support herself by having a hand on the table. This shows the importance of considering the psychological factors of anxiety and fear as it inhibited the patient from performing at her full potential.
Reflection on feedback:
The important feedback I received this week was that finding a balance between adapting the activity to make it easier to promote independence and keeping certain elements which are difficult to help improve performance skills. The activity can be structured to make it harder to work on certain performance skills when treatment is taking place but the method of completing the activity during daily use can be easier using principles of energy conservation. It is important to explain to the patient why the activity is being done in different ways. For example if the patient has poor dynamic balance the items needed for the activity can be placed for away to encourage movement out of the base of support to improve balance. however, when the patient is performing the same activity in their usual routine items would be placed as close as possible to decrease the amount of physical exertion.
Links:
2. https://brandongaille.com/11-multidisciplinary-team-advantages-and-disadvantages/
3. https://prezi.com/tyojl_m99pfn/multidisciplinary-team-working/
References:
1. Jefferies, H., & Chan, K. (2004). Multidisciplinary team working: is it both holistic and effective?. International Journal Of Gynecologic Cancer, 14(2), 210-211. doi: 10.1136/ijgc-00009577-200403000-00004
Inside the mind of a 4th year OT student 