Chapter 5 – Key Vocabulary: Interprofessional Communication

Key Terms

• Interprofessional communication (IPC)

• Interprofessional relationships

• Liminal space (threshold/transition zones between identities & roles)

• Professional identity

• Respectful communication (full disclosure + transparency)

Defining Interprofessional Communication

• Occurs when students / practitioners from different professions communicate authentically, collaboratively, responsively and responsibly (Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative, 2010).

• Requires self-awareness regarding one’s automatic characteristics that may fuel miscommunication or tensions.

• Emphasises inclusion of patients, families, carers as integral voices in the team.

Importance & Consequences

• Builds trust, respect, understanding → shared knowledge → superior person-centred outcomes.

• Creates a climate of psychological safety and team interdependence (O’Leary, 2016).

• Poor IPC ⇒ inefficiencies, negative experiences, rapid staff turnover, and patient-safety risks (Vermeir et al., 2015).

Elements of Effective IPC

• Clearly articulated teamwork principles and shared mental models.

• Common understanding of care decisions through effective two-way communication.

• Trusting, respectful relationships across patients, families & professionals.

• Judicious use of ICT to support collaboration.

• Organisation of information in plain language; minimise discipline-specific jargon.

• Active listening; encourage ideas from every stakeholder.

• Recognition of one’s uniqueness (culture, power, hierarchy, expertise) and its impact on conflict resolution.

Case Activity 5.1 – “Poor IPC” (Iris in ED)

• 72-y/o Iris with Parkinson’s fractures hip; paramedics deliver a condescending hand-off (“sweet old lady who forgot her meds”).

• Reflection prompts:

  • Emotional impact on Iris (e.g., fear, marginalisation, loss of autonomy).

  • Potential breakdown points during admission: inaccurate medication histories, discipline silos, exclusion of Iris from decisions. Consequences: delayed analgesia, wrong dosage, unsafe discharge.

Holistic Assessment & Scientist–Practitioner Model

• Therapeutic interviewing + consent + exploration of lived experience ≈ working alliance.

• Comprehensive assessment (NINDS guidelines) needs inter-disciplinary collaboration to capture cognition, emotion, environment.

• Findings must be explained to patient in plain language and circulated to team for shared planning.

Case Activity 5.3 – “Collaborative Communication”

• 10 days post-op: interprofessional ward meeting.

• Shared data points: age-accelerated PD progression, memory deficits, haptic decline → risk-mitigation focus.

• Roles:

  • Physiotherapist: mobilising + stair competency.

  • OT: home safety equipment; ADL assessment.

  • Pharmacist: med-review.

  • Nursing: functional independence on ward.

  • Psychologist: cognitive profile → vulnerability to rehospitalisation.

  • Social Worker: environment + supports.

  • Physician: ultimate discharge authority.

• Strategies: include Iris’s FIFO-worker son; verify her retention of information; foster inclusive power-sharing.

Deliberative Democracy & Power Redistribution

• Traditional hierarchy = transactional power based on quantity (title, seniority).

• Deliberative democracy (Nugus et al., 2019) = transformational; relies on broad discussion, rational deliberation, shared decisions → dismantles structural barriers and fosters person-centred care.

Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT)

• Origin: 1970s; refined by Giles & Gasiorek (2014).

• People adjust speech based on evaluation of interlocutor’s attributes, histories, group identities.

• Convergence (accommodative): adapt rate, vocabulary, non-verbal cues → enhances clarity, warmth, respect.

• Divergence / Non-accommodation: maintain jargon, power distance; or maintenance, over-accommodation (elderspeak), under-accommodation → undermines therapeutic intent.

• Adjustments become automatic with practice; self-aware practitioners use them strategically.

Stereotyping, Liminality & Professional Identity

• Stress + familiarity ⇒ reliance on stereotypes → shortcuts that jeopardise IPC.

• Experimental evidence shows “tribalism” dissolves when individuals are removed from role cues (Braithwaite et al., 2016).

• Unlearning entrenched practices is slow; “easier to add new than remove old” (Gupta et al., 2017).

Maximising Communication Effectiveness

• Acknowledge translational gaps; check mutual understanding across disciplines & with patients.

• Early interprofessional education (IPE) cultivating partnership-based communication lays lifelong habits (Claramita et al., 2019).

Observation Skills

• Observation is more than “watching”; shaped by professional training.

• Art-based interventions improve descriptive accuracy and are retained ext{≥ 1 year} (Beck et al., 2017).

• Mindfulness counters bias from prior learning.

Listening & Active Listening Techniques (Table 5.1 Highlights)

• Encouraging – nods, minimal prompts.

• Paraphrasing – restate key ideas; memory aid; validate patient.

• Clarifying – probe vague terms (“safe enough”).

• Feedback – honest, non-judgemental responses.

• Empathy – step into speaker’s shoes.

• Openness – adopt “anthropologist” stance; avoid premature evaluation.

• Awareness – monitor congruence & meta-messages (emotion-laden sub-text).

• Verbal Modifiers – beware of words like naturally, slightly that convey hidden reluctance.

Barriers to Listening (Table 5.2)

• Cognitive: comparing, mind-reading, rehearsing, daydreaming.

• Behavioural: interrupting, monopolising, derailing, advising, sparring.

• Selective: filtering, partial listening.

• Ego / unmet needs: being right, placating, over-identifying, judging.

• Ethical red-flags: breaking confidences, intimidation, interrogation.

• Environmental: noise, lack of privacy, time pressure.

Research on Interprofessional Teams & Education

• Workplace IPC studies show inconsistent evidence; measurement of “effectiveness” poorly defined.

• IPE literature robust but often self-report based and context-specific.

• Immersive, longitudinal IPE (e.g., 2 hrs/week × 1 semester) promotes genuine teamwork (Hale & DiLollo, 2016).

Professional Identity, Power & Trust (Best & Williams, 2019)

• Power used to protect professional identity; changing role boundaries create vulnerability → mistrust.

• Open-minded interaction hampered by strong identity silos; need for social identity frameworks.

Tacit Knowledge & Conversational Spaces

• Much IPC learning is tacit, informal, often unrecognised but vital (Garrick & Chan, 2017).

• Trust-rich “micro-spaces” (corridors, break rooms) enable subconscious knowledge sharing.

Strategies & Ways Forward

• Spirit-at-Work interventions: facilitated dialogues + structured activities improve morale & care quality (Wagner et al., 2018).

• Closed-loop communication with positive affect correlates with team effectiveness, especially in emergencies.

• Emphasise supportive organisational climate; recognise power imbalances (conscientisation) to drive transformation.

Summary Points

• Effective IPC = collaborative, responsive, responsible communication across professions ⇒ better person-centred outcomes.

• Key drivers: observation, active listening, knowledge translation, trust.

• Assertive yet respectful communication mitigates identity crises and enhances satisfaction & safety.

Reflective / Critical Thinking Prompts

• Audit past group work: Which interprofessional norms were/weren’t upheld? How could you personally enhance communication?

• Recall instances where active listening could have improved outcomes.

• Identify personal listening barriers you enacted recently; strategise prevention.

• Map your automatic communication traits (Table 5.4) and plan skill enhancement.

Ethical & Practical Implications

• Non-accommodative communication erodes dignity; may constitute elder abuse (“elderspeak”).

• Power disparities without deliberative checks can reinforce unsafe practices.

• Maintaining privacy and closing communication loops is both ethical duty and safety imperative.