title: Communication dynamics in hospice teams: understanding the role of the chaplain in interdisciplinary team collaboration.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hospice chaplains provide a specific expertise to patient and family care, however, individual roles and responsibilities that facilitate the interdisciplinary team environment are less well known.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The primary aim of this study was to investigate how hospice chaplains perceive their role in interdisciplinary team meetings and to what extent hospice chaplains share common experiences within the interdisciplinary team approach in hospice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hospice chaplains within a 10-state region participated in a 39-item phone survey about professional roles, group roles, and structural characteristics that influence their ability to participate in interdisciplinary collaboration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings revealed that professional role conflict is experienced, primarily with social workers. Informal group task and maintenance roles included team spiritual care advisor and conflict manager, and structural characteristics consisted of extracurricular communication outside of the organization.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although chaplains foster interdisciplinary collaboration within the hospice team, future research needs to address improvements to the chaplain's role within the interdisciplinary team process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Studies, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 76203-5268, USA. lyles@unt.edu
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wittenberg-Lyles
authors.forename: Debra Parker
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Demiris
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Regehr
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002604:Chaplaincy Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003142:Communication; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010348:Patient Care Team; D024382:Professional Role; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States