Download Collaborative Practices of Physical Therapists Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of collaboration between physical therapists and other health care professionals. For this study, collaboration was defined as "working with other health care professionals to deliver patient care or make patient care decisions." Organizational theory, social exchange theory, and the literature on teams provided a theoretical basis from which collaboration was studied. Several models that provide a framework for developing collaborative teams in academic, research, or clinical environments were reviewed. A random sample of 2,000 licensed physical therapists from the state of California was invited to participate in this survey study. The instrument was created based on conceptual models of collaboration and established instruments used to measure collaboration among other health care professionals. Subjects were asked to report information about their clinical practice, their collaboration with other health care professionals, and their professional physical therapist education. Descriptive statistics were calculated, nonparametric tests were conducted, and qualitative data were tabulated and coded into thematic categories representing the rich, thick descriptions provided by respondents. Seven hundred sixty-one respondents (38.1%) participated by completing a mail survey. Respondent demographics, clinical practice information, and professional education variables are described. In general, results suggest that the relationships between the variables measured and level of collaboration are weak, even when statistically significant. Findings indicate that physical therapists collaborate most often with physicians, occupational therapists, and nurses, in that order. Physical therapists also collaborate frequently with advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, social workers, and speech and language pathologists. While many responses regarding both the benefits and challenges of collaboration were consistent with those identified in the literature, new themes were also identified. This study begins the process of documenting details surrounding the collaborative practices of physical therapists. Perhaps this data, when coupled with information about collaboration that occurs between other types of health care professionals, can be used to inspire further study. It is important that professionals in the academic and health care environments learn more about the outcomes of and specific factors that influence collaboration between health care professionals.