Identifying communication behaviors and assessing effectiveness among interprofessional healthcare teams: A simulation study

Abstract

To deliver high quality health care, effective communication must exist among providers and between providers and patients. However, communicating across health disciplines is challenging because learners train in professional silos. Using a two-part simulation, this study's objectives were to identify effective communication behaviors of interprofessional healthcare teams and to evaluate their success in delivering team-based care for standardized patients. During the simulation, 10 standardized patients completed an evaluation to assess 46 teams of learners (n = 222). The evaluation included a patient-rated measure of healthcare providers' empathy and communication skills as well as a comment box for feedback. Of the 92 evaluations collected, four effective communication behaviors among interprofessional healthcare teams were identified: be aware of the patient's situation, participate in the interaction equally, create a comfortable environment, and nurture and strengthen a relationship. Learners demonstrated improvement in team communication between the first and second encounters with a standardized patient, and they exhibited five of the eight communication sub-competencies that are deemed necessary for interprofessional collaborative practice. This study demonstrated that learners' communicative behaviors improved during the simulation; thus, future interprofessional simulation activities should consider exercises that require learners to practice and refine their communication and teamwork skills.