Title: Interprofessional roles and cooperation in healthcare research

Authors: Iwona A. Bielska; Elizabeth M. Hampel

Addresses: Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen's University, Carruthers Hall, 2nd Floor, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada ' Department of Psychiatry, Queen's University, 125 Lakeview Avenue, Kingston, ON K7M 3T6, Canada

Abstract: Research in the healthcare sector is often complex and requires the input from numerous health professionals. This study provides insight into the process of research in an interprofessional healthcare team. To investigate how professionals from various disciplines cooperate together, a short-term observational study was undertaken. The participants completed questionnaires assessing personality types and learning styles, as well as participated in a semi-structured interview. Team interactions were observed during four team meetings over a five month period. The members of the team were found to be diverse in terms of personality types and learning styles and they indicated that this contributed to the success of their team and the positive teamwork experience that they reported. This study highlights the importance of cooperation between various health professionals when conducting healthcare research.

Keywords: interprofessionalism; healthcare research; personality types; learning styles; collaboration; teamworking; health professionals; healthcare teams.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBHR.2013.058858

International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research, 2013 Vol.4 No.3/4, pp.258 - 269

Received: 26 Feb 2013
Accepted: 26 Oct 2013
Published online: 21 Jun 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article