Working as a multidisciplinary team

Author(s):  
Jane Turner

Multidisciplinary care is established as the optimal model of clinical treatment of patients with cancer. As cancer treatment becomes increasingly complex, it is obvious that no one individual can maintain knowledge and skills across all domains of care. This means that a collaborative approach is required to ensure that expertise is available to assist in decision-making and planning of treatment, which is evidence-based and focused on the needs of the individual patient, taking into account their social and family context. This chapter describes the benefits of treatment by a multidisciplinary team including a description of the characteristics of well-functioning teams. Information is provided about adverse impacts on patient outcomes if there is poor communication within the multidisciplinary team. Evidence about strategies to improve communication within the multidisciplinary team is presented, supported by practical exercises to apply learning into the clinical setting.

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-35
Author(s):  
Matthew Gillam ◽  
Niraj Mandal ◽  
Vickie Lee ◽  
Vihba Vora ◽  
Michael Perry

Introduction Complex orbital fractures require multi-specialty input. The United Kingdom currently has no agreed best practice guidelines. A systematic review and meta-analysis found a significantly increased adverse outcome of persistent diplopia in patients operated on more than 14 days after initial injury. At our tertiary centre, we felt patient outcomes may be affected by investigative and referral pathway limitations so evaluated to assess and attempt to improve these. Methods This was a two-stage service evaluation study of all orbital trauma patients requiring specialist oculoplastic and orbital input. The initial phase included all orbital trauma patients referred to our department in April–November 2014. We assessed relevant key performance indicators and then implemented changes to our referral system, educated referring departments and formed a multidisciplinary team clinic to manage complex trauma. We then re-evaluated, collecting data on all patients referred March–May 2015. Results Most patients were male and victims of assault. Following intervention, there was a significant reduction in the injury to eye clinic review time (3.45 weeks to 2.22 weeks, p = 0.01) and multidisciplinary team review time (3.86 weeks to 2.71 weeks, p = 0.04). Injury to discharge time was significantly reduced from 6.15 weeks to 3.36 weeks (p = 0.002). Discussion Our study shows that a multidisciplinary team approach and structured pathways can improve assessment and intervention times for orbital trauma patients. This may have a beneficial effect on patient outcomes. In the absence of guidelines in the United Kingdom, we believe similar improvements could be implemented by other national centres and outcomes evaluated to assist future guidance formation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Allen ◽  
Dave Brodbelt ◽  
Josh Slater ◽  
Kristien Verheyen

<p>Evidence-based veterinary medicine (EBVM) is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of the current best evidence, when making decisions about the individual patient. Despite being shown to improve patient outcomes, the application of EBVM in equine practice remains seriously hampered by the lack of reliable data, even for the most common conditions.</p><p><span>This poster won second place, which was presented at the Veterinary Evidence Today conference, Edinburgh November 1-3, 2016. </span></p><p>Find out more about <a href="http://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/sarah-allen" target="_blank">Sarah</a>.</p><br /> <img src="https://www.veterinaryevidence.org/rcvskmod/icons/oa-icon.jpg" alt="Open Access" />


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 7056-7063
Author(s):  
Vineel P ◽  
Gopala Krishna Alaparthi ◽  
Kalyana Chakravarthy Bairapareddy ◽  
Sampath Kumar Amaravadi

  Evidence-based Practice is defined as usage of current best evidence which is conscientious, explicit and judicious in deciding on the care of the individual. It is one of the vital decision-making processes in the medical profession. Though India is renowned as a center for medical education, there is scarcity regarding the literature on evidence-based practice. The survey aims to identify the prevalence of evidence-based practice among the physical therapists of Mangalore. The study protocol submitted to scientific research committee and Ethical institutional committee, K.M.C. Mangalore Manipal University. On approval, the questionnaire had been distributed among the physical therapists of Mangalore through mails and in the written form. The questionnaire consists of questions divided into eight sections: 1) consent form 2) current practice status; 3) demographic data; 4) behavior; 5) previous knowledge of E.B.P. resources; 6) skills and available resources; 7) Opinions regarding E.B.P.; 8)Perceived barriers regarding E.B.P. The emails were sent through Google forms to all the physical therapists, and hard copies were distributed among the selected physical therapists. The response rate for the emails was 13.1%. The response collected through hard copies was 178, whereas total hard copies distributed was 320, the participants rejected some due to lack of interest. In total, including emails and hard copy questionnaire 205 was the response rate in which all were practicing physical therapy as their primary profession. The findings of the study will pave the way to identify the status of evidence-based practice as well as help in designing promotional programmers for evidence-based practice.


Nanomedicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (29) ◽  
pp. 2837-2850
Author(s):  
Myxuan Huynh ◽  
Ivan Kempson ◽  
Eva Bezak ◽  
Wendy Phillips

Background: The use of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as radiosensitizers may offer a new approach in the treatment of head and neck cancers; minimizing treatment-associated toxicities and improving patient outcomes. AuNPs promote localized dose deposition; permitting improved local control and/or dose reduction. Aim: This work aimed to address the theoretical optimization of radiation doses, fractionation and nanoparticle injection schedules to maximize therapeutic benefits. Materials & methods: Probabilistic nanoparticle sensitization factors were incorporated into the individual cell-based HYP-RT computer model of tumor growth and radiotherapy. Results: Total dose outcomes across all radiation therapy treatment regimens were found to be significantly reduced with the presence of AuNPs, with bi-weekly injections showing the most decrease. Conclusion: Outcomes suggest the need for regular AuNP administration to permit effective radiosensitization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Rahman Jazieh ◽  
Khadega A. Abuelgasim ◽  
Husam I. Ardah ◽  
Mohammad Alkaiyat ◽  
Omar B. Da’ar

Abstract Background The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is common among cancer patients and it may reflect the individual and societal beliefs on cancer therapy. Our study aimed to evaluate the trends of CAM use among patients with cancer between 2006 and 2018. Methods We included 2 Cohorts of patients with cancer who were recruited for Cohort 1 between 2006 and 2008 and for Cohort 2 between 2016 and 2018. The study is a cross-sectional study obtaining demographic and clinical information and inquiring about the types of CAM used, the reasons to use them and the perceived benefits. We compared the changes in the patterns of CAM use and other variables between the two cohorts. Results A total of 1416 patients were included in the study, with 464 patients in Cohort 1 and 952 patients in Cohort 2. Patients in Cohort 2 used less CAM (78.9%) than Cohort 1 (96.8%). Cohort 1 was more likely to use CAM to treat cancer compared to Cohort 2 (84.4% vs. 73%, respectively, p < 0.0001,); while Cohort 2 used CAM for symptom management such as pain control and improving appetite among others. Disclosure of CAM use did not change significantly over time and remains low (31.6% in Cohort 1 and 35.7% for Cohort 2). However, physicians were more likely to express an opposing opinion against CAM use in Cohort 2 compared to Cohort 1 (48.7% vs. 19.1%, p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusion There is a significant change in CAM use among cancer patients over the decade, which reflects major societal and cultural changes in this population. Further studies and interventions are needed to improve the disclosure to physicians and to improve other aspects of care to these patients.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 158-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Garrett

Advancing evidence-based policy change is a leadership challenge that nurses should embrace. Key tips to ensure that evidence-based policy changes are successful at the individual, community, and population levels are offered to help nurses through the change process. The public trust in the nursing profession is a leverage point that should be used to advance the use of evidence, expedite change, and improve health for students and across communities.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Goddard ◽  
Randolph R Myers

Actuarial risk/needs assessments exert a formidable influence over the policy and practice of youth offender intervention. Risk-prediction instruments and the programming they inspire are thought not only to link scholarship to practice, but are deemed evidence-based. However, risk-based assessments and programs display a number of troubling characteristics: they reduce the lived experience of racialized inequality into an elevated risk score; they prioritize a very limited set of hyper-individualistic interventions, at the expense of others; and they privilege narrow individual-level outcomes as proof of overall success. As currently practiced, actuarial youth justice replicates earlier interventions that ask young people to navigate structural causes of crime at the individual level, while laundering various racialized inequalities at the root of violence and criminalization. This iteration of actuarial youth justice is not inevitable, and we discuss alternatives to actuarial youth justice as currently practiced.


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