The effects on team emotions and team effectiveness of coaching in interprofessional health and social care teams

Emotion in teams: a scoping literature review

Purpose

The empirical findings of the roles of emotions in teams are mixed. This study, a scoping literature review, aims to synthesize extant research on the roles of emotions in work teams and offers future research directions.

Design/methodology/approach

Sixty-nine empirical studies from the past ten years (2012 to 2021) were identified and reviewed. The authors then analyzed these 69 papers based on their research design, focus and nomological network of emotions.

Findings

The authors found that there is a clear increasing research trend of studying emotions in a team setting. In the extant literature, team emotions were studied from three major perspectives: emotions, emotional management and emotion measurement. The authors also summarized findings into the nomological network of team emotions. Last but not least, future research directions regarding the research context, focus and design and analysis were recommended.

Originality/value

The role of emotions in teams has not been extensively reviewed or synthesized, and the empirical findings are mixed. This paper synthesized the role of emotions in teams and critical factors that affect emotions in teams. In particular, the research recommendations for critical human resource development scholars cover three aspects: research context advancement, research focus advancement and research design and analysis advancement.

Role of Peer Coaching in Transmitting the Benefits of Leader Coaching

Drawing on social information processing theory, the present study examines how and when leader coaching can be beneficial for team performance. Based on a sample of 58 teams from a sanitary product company in China, we found that peer coaching served as a mediator linking leader coaching and team performance. Moreover, the team individualistic/collectivism value moderated the first-stage relationship that the relationship between leader coaching and peer coaching was more positive when the team individualism value was low, but not significant when the team individualism value was high; while team task interdependence moderated the second-stage relationship that the relationship between peer coaching and team performance was more positive when the team task interdependence was high, but not significant when it was low. The findings enrich our understandings of the effectiveness of leader coaching behavior by uncovering the theoretical mechanism and boundary conditions. The study also provides important implications for coaching practice in organizations.

Errors in Breast Imaging: How to Reduce Errors and Promote a Safety Environment

Medical errors have a significant impact on patient care, worker safety, and health care finances. Breast imaging has the most common cause of organ-related misdiagnosis subject to malpractice suits. In order to effectively develop strategies to prevent errors, breast imaging radiologists must first understand the underlying causes of the errors that occur in the breast imaging setting. Errors in breast imaging can be related to errors in interpretation, improper workup of imaging findings, procedural errors, or errors in communication to the patient or other medical staff. The Yorkshire contributory factors framework was developed to identify factors that contribute to the errors in a hospital setting and can be adapted for use in the breast imaging setting. Within this framework, active failures refer to errors that directly affect the patient. Active errors include slips (including biases), lapses, and mistakes. The framework describes how active errors often result from factors that occur uphill from these active errors at different levels within the system. Once error causes are understood, there are concrete strategies and tools that breast imaging radiologists can implement to decrease adverse events, reduce medical errors, and promote a safety environment in the breast imaging clinic. Error mitigation tools can be summarized using the acronym SAFE, which includes support the team, ask questions, focus on a task, and effectively communicate/ensure equipment optimization/safe environment. Knowledge of errors commonly seen in a breast imaging clinic represent an opportunity for constructive changes and, ultimately, improved health care delivery.

Perceived Impacts of Solution-Focused Coaching Training for Pediatric Rehabilitation Practitioners: A Qualitative Evaluation

AIMS

This qualitative evaluation study assessed perceived impacts of a solution-focused coaching (SFC) training rolled out in a Canadian pediatric rehabilitation hospital from the perspective of clinical service providers.

METHODS

Thirteen clinical service providers were interviewed six months after receiving 2-day SFC training. Participants retrospectively described perceived impacts of the training and benefits and challenges pertinent to the implementation of the SFC approach. Interview transcripts were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically.

RESULTS

SFC training was considered making a valuable addition to participants' toolbox, increasing their confidence in developing positive therapeutic alliance with clients, and enhancing their strengths-based orientation. The training was also seen improving team cohesion and promoting collaborative solution-finding among team members. Structural barriers such as time constraints, lack of continuous organizational support and clear expectations around the use of the SFC approach were reported as factors impeding effective clinical adaptation. The need for tailoring the SFC approach to unique service contexts was also reported.

CONCLUSIONS

Future SFC training initiatives should integrate a team-based approach and a culturally sensitive lens to help providers better assist clients in identifying their unique strengths. Follow-up training and continuous organizational support mechanisms will be vital for facilitating sustainable implementation after the initial training.

"They Are Talking About Me, but Not with Me": A Focus Group Study to Explore the Patient Perspective on Interprofessional Team Meetings in Primary Care

Background

The number of people with multiple chronic conditions receiving primary care services is growing. To deal with their increasingly complex health care demands, professionals from different disciplines need to collaborate. Interprofessional team (IPT) meetings are becoming more popular. Several studies describe important factors related to conducting IPT meetings, mostly from a professional perspective. However, in the light of patient-centeredness, it is valuable to also explore the patients’ perspective.

Objective

The aim was to explore the patients’ perspectives regarding IPT meetings in primary care.

Methods

A qualitative study with a focus group design was conducted in the Netherlands. Two focus group meetings took place, for which the same patients were invited. The participants, chronically ill patients with experience on interprofessional collaboration, were recruited through the regional patient association. Participants discussed viewpoints, expectations, and concerns regarding IPT meetings in two rounds, using a focus group protocol and selected video-taped vignettes of team meetings. The first meeting focused on conceptualization and identification of themes related to IPT meetings that are important to patients. The second meeting aimed to gain more in-depth knowledge and understanding of the priorities. Discussions were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim, and analyzed by means of content analysis.

Results

The focus group meetings included seven patients. Findings were divided into six key categories, capturing the factors that patients found important regarding IPT meetings: (1) putting the patient at the center, (2) opportunities for patients to participate, (3) appropriate team composition, (4) structured approach, (5) respectful communication, and (6) informing the patient about meeting outcomes.

Conclusions

Patients identified different elements regarding IPT meetings that are important from their perspective. They emphasized the right of patients or their representatives to take part in IPT meetings. Results of this study can be used to develop tools and programs to improve interprofessional collaboration.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s40271-017-0214-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Development of a Customizable Programme for Improving Interprofessional Team Meetings: An Action Research Approach

Introduction:

Interprofessional teamwork is increasingly necessary in primary care to meet the needs of people with complex care demands. Needs assessment shows that this requires efficient interprofessional team meetings, focusing on patients’ personal goals. The aim of this study was to develop a programme to improve the efficiency and patient-centredness of such meetings.

Methods:

Action research approach: a first draft of the programme was developed, and iteratively used and evaluated by three primary care teams. Data were collected using observations, interviews and a focus group, and analysed using directed content analysis.

Results:

The final programme comprises a framework to reflect on team functioning, and training activities supplemented by a toolbox. Training is intended for the chairperson and a co-chair, and aims at organizing and structuring meetings, and enhancing patient-centredness. Our findings emphasize the essential role of the team’s chairperson, who, in addition to technically structuring meetings, should act as a change agent guiding team development.

Conclusion:

Findings show that the programme should be customizable to each individual team’s context and participants’ learning objectives. Becoming acquainted with new structures can be considered a growth process, in which teams have to find their way, with the chairperson as change agent.

Implementing a collaborative coaching intervention for professionals providing care to children and their families: An exploratory study

The growing complexity of healthcare requires family and interprofessional partnerships to deliver effective care. Interprofessional coaching can enhance family-centred practice and collaboration. The purpose of this study was to explore the acceptability and feasibility of collaborative coaching training to improve family centredness within acute paediatric rehabilitation. Using a participatory action design, service providers (SPs; n = 36) underwent a 6-month coaching programme involving coaching workshops, learning triads, and tailored sessions with a licensed coach. The feasibility and acceptability of coaching on SPs' family interactions and care was explored. Measure of Processes of Care (MPOC) and MPOC-SP, a coaching skills questionnaire, and focus groups were used to evaluate the acceptability of coaching training. We found that structured coaching training was feasible and SPs reported significant improvements in their coaching skills; however, MPOC and MPOC-SP scores did not reveal significant differences. Qualitative themes indicated that clinicians are developing coaching competencies and applying these skills in clinical practice. Participants perceived that the coaching approach strengthened relationships amongst colleagues, and they valued the opportunity for interprofessional learning. Findings suggest that coaching offers promise as an approach to facilitate successful patient outcomes and improve processes of care. Preliminary findings indicate that interprofessional coaching training is acceptable, feasible, and can significantly improve SP coaching skills and improve team cohesion. Further research to study the effects of coaching on interprofessional care using validated outcome measures and to assess the impact on service delivery is recommended.