CONCEPTUAL, THEORETICAL, AND PRACTICAL APPROACHES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMS - A TRANSACTIONAL MODEL

We describe the conceptual, theoretical, and practical approaches involved in the development and implementation of the Program for Organizing Interdisciplinary Self-Education (POISE), an interdisciplinary team education program. The conceptual framework is based on the idea that team members can be taught to develop group self-education skills; the theoretical framework of POISE is rooted in self-education, adult education, and group dynamics theory. POISE demonstrates that conceptual and theoretical approaches can be linked and applied successfully to practical approaches to staff education. POISE activities and tasks are designed to teach team members the methods of team development, management, and maintenance. POISE includes methods that interclisciplinary teams almost anywhere can use to assess and improve their interdisciplinary collaboration. POISE includes training in methods of defining and negotiating team members' roles, case study approaches to prioritizing treatment goals, group simulations, and methods of problem solving. One of the concrete products of POISE is the development of a practical Treatment Decision Guide, which is designed by the interdisciplinary team members specifically for patient management in their particular institution.