2011 Volume 31 Issue 4 Pages 4_14-23
Aim: The purpose of this study was to develop an assessment scale of health care professionals' recognition of a successful interdisciplinary team approach in health care facilities for the elderly (HCFE).
Methods: We adopted a three-step approach to develop this scale. Firstly, researchers carried out concept analysis of interdisciplinary teams from a literature review. Secondly, 16 health care professionals who cared for the elderly with dementia were interviewed about a successful interdisciplinary team approach. Thirdly, the assessment scale was tested on 904 healthcare professionals who worked in HCFE and re-tested after four weeks. Explanatory component analysis with promax rotation and confirmatory factor analysis were performed.
Results: A total of 401 responses (valid response rate 44.4%) were acquired from the health care professionals in the test. From the results of the explanatory components analysis with promax rotation and maximum likelihood methods, three prescribing factors of recognition of a successful interdisciplinary team approach were extracted. In brief, the final scale consisted of 32 items and three factors: “flexibility of organization structure (α=0.93),” “care process and degree of implementation (α=0.93),” and “cohesion and competence of members (α=0.91).” Moreover, the hypothesis that was made from the results of the exploratory factor analysis indicated that the three-factor model of successful interdisciplinary team approach provided the best fit for the current sample (GFI=0.921, AGFI=0.891, CFI=0.955, RMSEA=0.065, AIC=301.792).
Conclusion: The developed scale may have possibilities that can measure health care professionals' recognition of an interdisciplinary team approach in HCFE.
