“Alone, We Can Do So Little, Together We Can Do So Much.” Helen Keller
Adobe Images: https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=teamwork&search_type=autosuggest
Teamwork or working in collaboration is mostly a requirement in every working place or organization, and even though this is not liked by many, still it is practiced every minute. Participants in group work with different roles are also known as multidisciplinary team members (MDT) (https://www.mm3admin.co.za/documents/docmanager/3C53E82B-24F2-49E1-B997-5A35803BE10A/00134971.pdf. In health care, it is important to understand these occupants and their roles. The most important member of the team is the client or patient, my lecturer once said, ‘Without this team member there is no driving force or foundation of the team”. The other team members are caregivers or family members, doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dieticians, speech therapists, and social workers or psychologists. Understanding their roles will help you to correctly refer the client to the correct practitioner.
In all the MDT is a group of professionals from diverse disciplines who come together to provide comprehensive assessments and consultants for a common goal (Front Oncol, 2020). The main goal is the continuity of care and a more holistic approach towards patients’ needs. A good team also results in cost savings, workforce retention, reduced length of stay, and reduced turnover in the facility. Based on my experience and observations for you to be a good team member, you need to develop leadership skills. These skills that I think are important are good listening and communication skills, time management, problem-solving, accountability, and collaboration. (for more details on these skills on Chrome visit https://www.herzing.edu/blog/7-important-teamwork-skills-you-need-school-and-your-career.)
As much as occupational therapists are known for a client entered or holistic approach, we cannot do everything hence the importance of other team members. Helen Keller says ‘Alone, we can do so little, together we can do so much’. This emphasizes the importance of teamwork, understanding, and respecting every role and scope of practice of every member.
It is not only us OTs that need to understand the roles of each member, but it is in my hopes and dreams that everyone knows this from patients to doctors. Let me give you a glimpse of my experience with the MDTs I have been exposed to. So, I have been exposed to a public hospital and a private hospital and how things are done is different. There’s a lack of knowledge especially in public hospitals in terms of understanding the roles of members which pains my heart. A lot of incorrect referrals are made which wastes patients’ time and then puts your relationship with other members on the spot. If you have no good relationship with your members, then you wouldn’t know that there is a patient that needs your services resulting in poor service delivery which I have witnessed. The experience I am getting now at Entabeni Rehabilitation Centre is different (available MDT members please visit: https://www.lifehealthcare.co.za/hospitals/kwazulu-natal/durban/life-entabeni-hospital/.) The unity among team members is evident in the clients’ lives.
There are times I have discussed with the physiotherapist my goals with the client, and she discussed hers which were different, but we found a common ground of how we can incorporate both aims in our client’s sessions even though they were different to get the best outcome for our client. This was after I learned how as a student therapist, I can be client centered. Working with the MDT sharing the same goal forms a great part of client-centredness as this is part of clients’ rehabilitation or treatment.
The feedback I receive from the supervisor based on the intervention sessions pointed that I need to understand the client’s needs, wants, and goals it forces me to go back to the other team members and ask about the client’s improvement so that I can include that in sessions as I aim for the highest level of independence. This will change how I plan my sessions in the future by consulting the team members, be it the caregiver, the doctor not only the patient. With the large number of clients that I see now and will see in the future working alone to give back a quality life to individuals is impossible. Working hand in hand with other members has given me an opportunity to understand more about different diagnoses such as how a CVA patient can learn to speak again or even walk after the accident. The availability of these members plays a big role in executing a holistic intervention.
For more understanding of client-centeredness please visit my piece on Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/mzeken/715676516917362688/medicine-adds-days-to-live-occupational?source=share
739 words