title: The metamorphosis of a collaborative team: from creation to operation.
abstract: This paper reports on the process of developing a community-based interprofessional team to provide diabetes related foot ulcer care. A new interprofessional team was formed in a local community, and the process of building a successful team was examined by the adoption of an exploratory qualitative case study approach that gathered a series of one-on-one interviews with participants at three points in time - prior to the team's formation, two months into the team's operation, and finally seven months later - shortly before the team and its clinic closed. Interviews were also conducted with a small sample of the team's patients. The factors linked to the successes and challenges of building a care team in a community setting are explored. Informants highlighted the value of regular team meetings, role clarity, and a commitment to patient-centered care. However effective collaboration was not sufficient to maintain the team in the face of poor institutional and government support.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario , London, Ontario , Canada .
authors.forename: Tracey L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Orchard
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Houghton
authors.forename: Rajna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ogrin
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D017719:Diabetic Foot / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D036301:Qualitative Research
keywords: Case study; diabetes foot care; interprofessional collaboration; interprofessional team; patient-centered care; qualitative method