INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION AMONG REHABILITATION PROFESSIONALS

Interprofessional Collaboration

Abstract

Objective: To determine interprofessional collaboration among rehabilitation professionals in stroke rehabilitation.
Study Design: Comparative cross sectional survey.
Place and Duration of Study: Data was collected from all major cities of Pakistan in 12 months from Nov 2015 to Nov 2016.
Material and Methods: A structured questionnaire of interprofessional collaboration was filled by physiatrists, physical therapists, prosthetists/orthotists, occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists having two years of professional experience into total sample size of 139.
Results: Post Hoc analysis for comparison between the occupations shows that there is  significant difference for communication, accommodation and isolation between the rehab physicians and all other occupations included in the study with the p-value less than 0.05.
Conclusion: The benefits of interprofessional collaboration cannot be denied in developing countries and barriers to development of multidisciplinary team are huge. We need to step forward to overcome these barriers and play our role in development of multidisciplinary teams so that our patients and team members get benefit from this already research proven approach.