Allied health transdisciplinary models of care in hospital settings: A scoping review  

ABSTRACT

Improving the productivity of the allied health workforce is a global priority in response to the increasing incidence of chronic disease, associated healthcare costs, and insufficient workforce volume. Team-based healthcare, specifically allied health transdisciplinary teams, might be a solution to improve the utilization of workforce while maintaining high-quality and value-based healthcare. Allied health transdisciplinary teams can be a valuable solution in settings where care is delivered by different allied health professionals. Transdisciplinary teams embrace overlapping skills and blur traditional professional boundaries, allowing one professional to deliver certain aspects of care without eroding the skills and knowledge that each profession offers. The objective of this scoping review is to systematically examine and map the characteristics, outcomes, facilitators, and barriers of contemporary allied health transdisciplinary models of care that have been implemented in hospital settings. The scoping review was guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and reported in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Three screening rounds were completed by two independent reviewers. Included sources were synthesized using descriptive and tabular analysis. Nine studies that evaluated hospital-based allied health transdisciplinary teams were included. One study was a randomized controlled trial, five were experimental quantitative studies, two utilized qualitative analyses, and one was a conference abstract. Most studies reported improvements in time-efficiency, quality of care, and positive stakeholder perceptions. One study reported labor and capital cost savings. Barriers and facilitators of transdisciplinary teams were categorized by the authors as person/interpersonal, workflow, organizational or implementation factors. This review presents some evidence that demonstrates the potential of hospital-based allied health transdisciplinary teams, however high-quality evidence is scarce. Further primary research should focus on stakeholder perceptions, and labor and capital cost outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Allied health
• transdisciplinary
• teams
• value-based healthcare

Acknowledgments

Aleysha Martin undertook this work as part of her Doctor of Philosophy enrolment at the Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland. Aleysha Martin received financial support from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Mater Foundation, and The University of Queensland. The authors wish to acknowledge the learned input of the Reviewers which added value to this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council under Postgraduate Scholarship [grant number 2005351]; Mater Research Institute under Betty McGrath Health Services Research Seeding Grant [grant number 2613]; and The University of Queensland under Research Training Stipend [scholarship number 3769499089]. University of Queensland Early Career

Notes on contributors

A.K. Martin

Miss Aleysha Martin is a registered occupational therapist and commenced her PhD with Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland in 2020, investigating transdisciplinary allied health assessment on acute stroke units.

T. L. Green

Professor Theresa Green has over 30 years post-registration nursing experience in clinical practice, management, education, research, and academia across a variety of settings. Theresa has clinically focused neuroscience-related research interests, which centre on quality patient care, evidence-based practice, reintegration and recovery, and the emerging fields of implementation science and improvement science.

A. L. McCarthy

Professor Alexandra McCarthy is jointly-appointed as Professor of Clinical Nursing, University of Queensland and Mater Health Services. She has practiced extensively in acute cancer care, including chemotherapy administration, in rural and metropolitan settings.

P. M. Sowa

Dr Marcin Sowa is Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for the Business and Economics of Health, The University of Queensland, and a health economist specializing in health policy, economic evaluation, and healthcare analytics.

E-L. Laakso

Dr E-Liisa Laakso is a Senior Research Fellow Allied Health at the Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland. Liisa's research interests include investigating pain and symptom management for prevention and treatment of chronic disease, the role of health technologies in health care, and health service innovations.