title: Development of the assessment for collaborative environments (ACE-15): A tool to measure perceptions of interprofessional "teamness".
abstract: As interprofessional education moves from classroom to clinical settings, assessing clinical training sites for a high level of "teamness" to ensure optimal learning environments is critical but often problematic ahead of student placement. We developed a tool (Assessment for Collaborative Environments, or ACE), suitable for a range of clinical settings and health professionals, that allows rapid assessment of a clinical practice's teamwork qualities. We collected evidence of tool validity including content, response process, internal structure, and convergent validity. Expert review and cognitive interviews allowed reduction of the initial 30-item tool to 15 items (the ACE-15). Data from 192 respondents from 17 clinical professions and varied clinical settings (inpatient, ambulatory, urban, and rural) were used for factor analysis, which resulted in a single factor solution. Internal consistency reliability Cronbach's alpha was high at 0.91. Subgroup analysis of 121 respondents grouped by their clinical teams (n = 16 teams) showed a wide range of intra-team agreement. Data from a subsequent sample of 54 clinicians who completed the ACE-15 and a measure of team cohesion indicated convergent validity, with a correlation of the tools at r = 0.81. We conclude that the ACE-15 has acceptable psychometric properties and promising utility for assessing interprofessional teamness in clinical training sites that are settings for learners, and, in addition may be useful for team development.
authors.affiliation: a School of Nursing , Oregon Health & Science University , Portland , Oregon , USA.
authors.forename: Virginia P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Tilden
authors.affiliation: b Division of General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics, Department of Medicine , Oregon Health & Science University , Portland , Oregon , USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Eckstrom
authors.affiliation: a School of Nursing , Oregon Health & Science University , Portland , Oregon , USA.
authors.forename: Nathan F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Dieckmann
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D015279:Organizational Culture; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010465:Perception; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Clinical practice sites; interprofessional collaboration; interprofessional education; psychometric tool development; teamness