An interprofessional partnership is considered to work on mutual goals to advance patient results and provide services. Interprofessional collaboration is known as the growth of initiatives that are considered to increase the use of health care services. Hardly is the connection of the social worker and pharmacist in the works, but benefits in patient care may be reached through the presence of this cooperative determination. Collaborative communications show a unification of professional values and are accomplished through sharing skills and information to improve the patient care. It is important as a group to have strong and open communication because everyone’s input is important, active decision-making, trusting each other, and leadership. It can be challenging when working with another profession because they won’t entirely know the knowledge, skills, and abilities that members of other professions bring to the team, but in this interprofessional group I attended it was not the case. Interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and social workers involves the ability to make changes from the mainly professional-based vision that most professions have the approval of a sense of collaboration and a shared goal. The letdowns that can progress from inappropriate collaboration and communication between health care professionals can have a harmful impact on health care results, reduce the value of medical decisions, and make mistakes when it comes to implementing choices. This explains why group structure is important.
To begin with, there were goals and objectives we had to accomplish to provide the patient, 81-year-old Mr. Brown, what he needed to improve his results. Those goals were to analyze patient information to identify psychosocial issues, recommend intervention options for the patient’s care plan, make recommendations for coordination of the patient’s care plan, and develop a shared goal. As we read over Mr. Brown’s case, there were several issues that had to be addressed such as HTN (25 years), CHF (3 years), T2DM (4 years, controlled without medication), Osteoarthritis (OA), bilateral knees, and bunionectomy. He also dealt with depression. His most pressing problems were to prevent readmission, self-care, medication adherence, lifestyle changes & patient education, grief counseling, and poor vision which affects his everyday life. We narrowed it down to the most important issues and provided interventions for him. Also, we had goals and objectives set once we figured out what types of therapy and services we had set up for him. Preventing readmission was one of the important issues, and educating him about his diseases, and finding out what medication was working or wasn’t working for his diseases was the solution to the first issue. The second issue was about his medication. As we spoke on the goals for his medication adherence because he was not consistent with taking his medication, the combined efforts between a social worker and pharmacist rose during the moments we talked about the start of his medication and ways to increase the likelihood that adherence is maintained during therapy. As a team, we agreed for him to attend Trauma-Focused Therapy, fluid restriction meaning no alcohol, and provide him with in-home services which will help him plan his meds, weigh himself every day, remind him to do his hygiene, and provide transportation to get where he needs to go. Also, educating his family on his conditions and maybe they will come around more when they realize how serious it is.
During the interprofessional meeting, the role of the social workers in each group mainly focused on finding all resources that can assist the patient from a social work point of view. This can include increasing awareness about health stressors and tactics to manage and working conscientiously to prevent or diminish the occurrence of health problems. According to social work theory, particularly the ecological systems theory, understanding the multiple environments and systems that impact a patient’s life is crucial for effective intervention (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). The role of the pharmacist was to focus on identifying and providing references for medications that are well-suited for patients based on patient-detailed appearances and working in unification with the social worker to confirm that medication interventions are applied, and compliance can be kept. Pharmacists play a vital role in medication management and patient education, crucial for chronic disease management and improving health outcomes (Hepler & Strand, 1990). As a team, we combined all our ideas together and agreed on what would or wouldn’t work for our patient. Lastly, we use therapeutic factors to help the patient. Instillation of hope was one of the factors we used as we were educating the patient about his health and explaining to how important it is to take care of himself. More of motivation and hope. Hope is required to keep the client in therapy so that other therapeutic factors may take effect, but faith in a treatment mode can be therapeutically effective (Yalom, 2005).
To sum up, I learned a lot from the other profession because you get to learn and see things from a different perspective. More so, an open mind to not only think of what social workers can do but finding out more services you can provide as you learn from other professions. The groups were open-minded and uniformed. They learned a lot from us social workers and were shocked by how many resources we could offer to help our patient. Although social work and pharmacy are two different professions, we are both working and using the services of each profession to enlighten the patient results through shared information.
This collaboration echoes the principles of interprofessional education (IPE), which emphasizes learning about, from, and with other health care professionals to foster effective collaboration and improve health outcomes (WHO, 2010). Studies have shown that IPE can lead to better patient care and improved teamwork among health professionals (Reeves et al., 2013). The integration of pharmacists and social workers in patient care plans highlights the importance of a multidisciplinary approach, especially for managing chronic conditions and addressing psychosocial issues. For instance, the Chronic Care Model (Wagner et al., 1996) emphasizes the need for a coordinated team approach to manage chronic diseases effectively, where each member brings unique expertise to improve patient outcomes.
In the case of Mr. Brown, the collaborative effort between the social worker and pharmacist to address his multiple health issues, adherence to medication, and psychosocial support exemplifies how effective interprofessional collaboration can lead to comprehensive and holistic patient care. This approach aligns with patient-centered care principles, which focus on addressing the full range of patient needs and preferences, rather than just treating the disease (Epstein & Street, 2011).
In conclusion, interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and social workers, as demonstrated in the case of Mr. Brown, underscores the importance of integrated care models in improving patient outcomes. By leveraging the strengths and expertise of different health professionals, it is possible to address the complex needs of patients more effectively. This case study not only highlights the benefits of such collaboration but also serves as a model for other health care settings aiming to implement a team-based approach to patient care.