Community Long-Term Care Teams: Assessing Team Fitness

Although long-term care is often conceptualized as institutional living, the majority of long-term care is provided in the community through primary care. The BRIGHTEN program (Bridging Resources of an Interdisciplinary Geriatric Health Team via Electronic Networking) provides interdisciplinary care utilizing a “virtual” team model. Highly cohesive and collaborative interactions are required for the success of health care teams. Team functioning thereby was assessed using the Team Fitness Test and Team Development Measure, followed by extensive discussion about identified strengths and weaknesses. The team was found to be “firmly in place” within 6 months of formation. While there were minimal changes in objective measures over time, the process of evaluation was found to be very helpful for the team. Implications of team assessment and development for older adult long-term care are discussed.