Interprofessional Collaborative Relationship-Building Model in Action in Primary Care: A Secondary Analysis.
Pamela Wener, Leanne Leclair, Moni Fricke and 1 others
PMID 36189054WHAT IT FOUND
Team members in primary care valued co-location for face-to-face talks to clarify therapist roles.
They moved from seeing OTs and PTs as fillers for gaps to trusting their expertise in chronic pain and function. This shift relied on informal communication rather than just written referrals.
Key findings
01Co-location was not a distinct stage but the context that allowed face-to-face conversations to clarify roles and build trust, especially for complex cases.
02The team initially viewed OTs and PTs as filling service gaps for 'stuck' patients and those with chronic pain, but later recognized their expertise in non-pharmacological management and functional assessment.
03Reciprocity grew when team members engaged in two-way communication, leading to shared decision-making and a move toward recognizing the therapists' value beyond simple referral fulfillment.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study analyzed data from a single clinic, so the findings may not apply to other primary care settings. It was a secondary analysis, so the original interviews did not specifically ask about the ICRB model stages. It is unclear if data saturation was reached because the data was collected for a different purpose. The team had only been integrated for two years, so the long-term evolution of these relationships is unknown.
Declared interests
The work was supported by a grant from the University of Manitoba. The authors declared no commercial or financial conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that co-location alone will automatically improve patient care or team dynamics. The study shows that relationship building requires active, face-to-face communication and a shift in how team members view each other's roles, which took time and effort in this specific clinic.