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Developing Relational Coordination: A Qualitative Study of Outpatient Mental Health Teams

Previous studies have shown Relational Coordination improves team functioning in healthcare settings. The aim of this study was to examine the relational factors needed to support team functioning in outpatient mental health care teams with low staffing ratios. We interviewed interdisciplinary menta...

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Autores principales: Spitzer, Elizabeth G., Kaitz, Jenesse, Fix, Gemmae M., Harvey, Kimberly L. L., Stadnick, Nicole A., Sullivan, Jennifer L., Williamson, Alicia K., Miller, Christopher J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9996570/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36892721
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10488-023-01261-2
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author Spitzer, Elizabeth G.
Kaitz, Jenesse
Fix, Gemmae M.
Harvey, Kimberly L. L.
Stadnick, Nicole A.
Sullivan, Jennifer L.
Williamson, Alicia K.
Miller, Christopher J.
author_facet Spitzer, Elizabeth G.
Kaitz, Jenesse
Fix, Gemmae M.
Harvey, Kimberly L. L.
Stadnick, Nicole A.
Sullivan, Jennifer L.
Williamson, Alicia K.
Miller, Christopher J.
author_sort Spitzer, Elizabeth G.
collection PubMed
description Previous studies have shown Relational Coordination improves team functioning in healthcare settings. The aim of this study was to examine the relational factors needed to support team functioning in outpatient mental health care teams with low staffing ratios. We interviewed interdisciplinary mental health teams that had achieved high team functioning despite low staffing ratios in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. We conducted qualitative interviews with 21 interdisciplinary team members across three teams within two medical centers. We used directed content analysis to code the transcripts with a priori codes based on the Relational Coordination dimensions, while also being attentive to emergent themes. We found that all seven dimensions of Relational Coordination were relevant to improved team functioning: frequent communication, timely communication, accurate communication, problem-solving communication, shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect. Participants also described these dimensions as reciprocal processes that influenced each other. In conclusion, relational Coordination dimensions can play pivotal roles in improving team functioning both individually and in combination. Communication dimensions were a catalyst for developing relationship dimensions; once relationships were developed, there was a mutually reinforcing cycle between communication and relationship dimensions. Our results suggest that establishing high-functioning mental health care teams, even in low-staffed settings, requires encouraging frequent communication within teams. Moreover, attention should be given to ensuring appropriate representation of disciplines among leadership and defining roles of team members when teams are formed. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10488-023-01261-2.
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spelling pubmed-99965702023-03-09 Developing Relational Coordination: A Qualitative Study of Outpatient Mental Health Teams Spitzer, Elizabeth G. Kaitz, Jenesse Fix, Gemmae M. Harvey, Kimberly L. L. Stadnick, Nicole A. Sullivan, Jennifer L. Williamson, Alicia K. Miller, Christopher J. Adm Policy Ment Health Original Article Previous studies have shown Relational Coordination improves team functioning in healthcare settings. The aim of this study was to examine the relational factors needed to support team functioning in outpatient mental health care teams with low staffing ratios. We interviewed interdisciplinary mental health teams that had achieved high team functioning despite low staffing ratios in U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. We conducted qualitative interviews with 21 interdisciplinary team members across three teams within two medical centers. We used directed content analysis to code the transcripts with a priori codes based on the Relational Coordination dimensions, while also being attentive to emergent themes. We found that all seven dimensions of Relational Coordination were relevant to improved team functioning: frequent communication, timely communication, accurate communication, problem-solving communication, shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect. Participants also described these dimensions as reciprocal processes that influenced each other. In conclusion, relational Coordination dimensions can play pivotal roles in improving team functioning both individually and in combination. Communication dimensions were a catalyst for developing relationship dimensions; once relationships were developed, there was a mutually reinforcing cycle between communication and relationship dimensions. Our results suggest that establishing high-functioning mental health care teams, even in low-staffed settings, requires encouraging frequent communication within teams. Moreover, attention should be given to ensuring appropriate representation of disciplines among leadership and defining roles of team members when teams are formed. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10488-023-01261-2. Springer US 2023-03-09 2023 /pmc/articles/PMC9996570/ /pubmed/36892721 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10488-023-01261-2 Text en © This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law. This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Original Article
Spitzer, Elizabeth G.
Kaitz, Jenesse
Fix, Gemmae M.
Harvey, Kimberly L. L.
Stadnick, Nicole A.
Sullivan, Jennifer L.
Williamson, Alicia K.
Miller, Christopher J.
Developing Relational Coordination: A Qualitative Study of Outpatient Mental Health Teams
title Developing Relational Coordination: A Qualitative Study of Outpatient Mental Health Teams
title_full Developing Relational Coordination: A Qualitative Study of Outpatient Mental Health Teams
title_fullStr Developing Relational Coordination: A Qualitative Study of Outpatient Mental Health Teams
title_full_unstemmed Developing Relational Coordination: A Qualitative Study of Outpatient Mental Health Teams
title_short Developing Relational Coordination: A Qualitative Study of Outpatient Mental Health Teams
title_sort developing relational coordination: a qualitative study of outpatient mental health teams
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9996570/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36892721
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10488-023-01261-2
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