How can interdisciplinary care teams promote health equity for marginalized populations?

1 What are interdisciplinary care teams?

Interdisciplinary care teams are groups of health professionals from different fields and backgrounds who work together to provide comprehensive and coordinated care to patients with complex and diverse needs. Interdisciplinary care teams can include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, psychologists, therapists, educators, community workers, and others. By collaborating and sharing their expertise and perspectives, interdisciplinary care teams can deliver holistic and patient-centered care that addresses the physical, mental, social, and environmental factors that affect health.

3 What are the challenges of interdisciplinary care teams?

Interdisciplinary care teams face several challenges that can impede their effectiveness and sustainability, such as communication and coordination issues due to differences in terminology, expectations, roles, and cultures. To overcome these issues, teams need to establish clear and consistent communication channels, protocols, and feedback mechanisms. Additionally, strong and supportive leadership and management are essential for facilitating formation, functioning, and evaluation of the team. The team should also have shared goals, values, and vision, as well as adequate funding, training, and recognition to sustain motivation and performance. Finally, appropriate and participatory evaluation tools that can capture processes and outcomes of interventions are needed to measure and improve the team's impact on health equity for marginalized populations.

5 How can you learn more about systems engineering and interdisciplinary care teams?

If you are interested in learning more about systems engineering and interdisciplinary care teams, there are many resources and opportunities available for you. You can read books, articles, and reports that cover the theory and practice of these topics in healthcare, such as Systems Engineering for Healthcare Systems: Principles and Practices by M. Jamshidi et al., Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice: Creating a Blueprint for Nurse Educators by E. Zierler et al., and Interdisciplinary Care Teams for Prevention and Control of Chronic Diseases by L. Lasker et al. Additionally, there are courses, workshops, and webinars to teach you the skills and methods of systems engineering and interdisciplinary care teams in health care, like Systems Engineering for Health by Johns Hopkins University, Interprofessional Collaborative Practice by University of Minnesota, and Interdisciplinary Health Care Teams by Stanford University. Finally, you can join networks, communities, and organizations that support and promote systems engineering and interdisciplinary care teams in health care, such as the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), American Interprofessional Health Collaborative (AIHC), or National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education (NCIPE).

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?