Team Dynamics Rx: Building Trust for Better Patient Outcomes

This is the first part of the activity, please visit this page to view the second part

The aim of this activity is to have students work with students from other disciplines to collaborate and manage a patient with diabetes. This will allow students to learn effective team dynamics, as well as how to build trust within a team and with a patient. This will be important for when students start to work in their field.

In teams, students will role play correct exercise advice and how to manage diabetes for a diabetic patient in three different simulations. This activity takes place in-class, near the beginning of the semester, after the students have already learned about diabetes and exercise prescription. Since this activity takes place in third year, students have already participated in interdisciplinary activities. The strategy used is role-play which allows the students to act out how they work as a team under three different simulations.

Students will be able to:

• Participate and be respectful of all members’ participation in collaborative decision making
• Facilitate decision making and team processes
• Identify types of roles that are typically taken when working within a team
• Establish how to facilitate an effective team
• Establish a climate for collaborative practice among all participants
• Communicate to ensure common understanding of care decisions
• Work with others to enable effective client outcomes
• Apply collaborative decision-making processes
• Determine ways to develop trusting relationships with clients and their families
• Regularly reflect on functioning with the members of the team
• Determine ways to establish and maintain effective healthy working relationships with team member