Background: Research shows that there are many barriers to the implementation of occupation-based practice amongst occupational therapy practitioners. One barrier that requires a more in-depth review is the process of interprofessional and intraprofessional collaboration amongst staff in skilled nursing facilities.
Purpose: The purpose of this research project was to examine how interprofessional and intraprofessional collaboration influence occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistant’s ability to provide occupation-based practice in skilled nursing facilities.
Theoretical Framework: The frameworks utilized throughout this study included the National Interprofessional Competency Framework and the Occupational Therapy Intervention Process Model (OTIPM).
Methods: This study utilized a qualitative case study design to understand how staff within skilled nursing facilities viewed the impact of intra- and interprofessional collaboration has on occupation-based practice. Participants were recruited utilizing purposeful sampling to gain a full diverse picture of the phenomenon being studied. Participants were interviewed for between 15 - 30 minutes individually and interviews were transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were coded which led to the development of three themes.
Results: After the seven participants were interviewed three themes emerged from the data. The three themes were: absence of shifting mindsets, respecting roles to benefit clients, and missed opportunities.
Conclusions: The themes and subthemes of this study bring to light the challenges to effective collaboration and how it impacts occupation-based practice, while also discussing what effective collaboration looks like and how it can benefit the clients that receive services. By having the different professions represented in this study, there is a diverse overview of the experiences had within the facility giving a better understanding and view of the nature of intra- and interprofessional collaboration helping to better perceive how occupation-based practice may be impacted
