28. Types of Collaborations

When working in health care teams, there are different types of collaboration with varying degrees of autonomy and teamwork. Team members collaborate with different degrees of closeness, depending on their situation, which can produce multi-, inter-, or trans-disciplinary collaboration (21).

The multi-disciplinary team

This team has several different health care providers that work independently or in parallel. Members make their own decisions about their respective duties. Although they collaborate on the same project, they do not work together. If they do work together, it is on a limited and transient basis. They may never meet, but the infrastructure of the system where they work supports them to work in a sufficiently coordinated fashion. The primary characteristics of this collaborative team are independent working and strong boundaries between members.

The inter-disciplinary team

This team shows a greater degree of collaboration between team members. The team makes an effort to integrate and translate themes and activities shared by several professions. An inter-disciplinary team is usually formally structured and generally has a common goal and decision making process. Inter-disciplinary teams draw on the knowledge and expertise of each team member to solve complex problems in a flexible and open-minded way. Characteristics of this team are teamwork and semi-open boundaries.

The trans-disciplinary team

This team is the most collaborative. Consensus-seeking and broadening of professional boundaries play a major role in this team’s collaboration. In the trans-disciplinary team, there is a deliberate exchange of knowledge, skills, expertise, and decision making that transcends the usual discipline boundaries. In this collaboration, members apply collaborative leadership principles, and boundaries are open.