Conceptualizing the Facilitators and Barriers of Successful Multidisciplinary Teamwork Within the Reablement Process: A Scoping Review

As the global population ages, there is increasing pressure on health systems to provide high-quality and cost-effective care for this growing segment of the population. Reablement, primarily a strategic home-based rehabilitation approach, has been demonstrated to be a cost-effective, multidisciplinary, holistic, and person-centred approach to maintaining functional independence as one ages. Given that care delivery in the home setting for older persons is complex, a key feature of effective implementation of reablement is the integration of a multidisciplinary team. The primary objective of this study was to identify the facilitators and barriers that lead to successful teamwork in a multidisciplinary reablement team setting. Scoping review approach was used in this study to determine trends, and mapping themes prevalent in the peer-reviewed literature. Eligible articles were sourced from four electronic databases, and data were extracted, coded, analyzed and chartered in February 2024. Twenty studies were included in this study. Six main themes were identified: (1) multidisciplinary teamwork for quality service development, (2) dynamics of multidisciplinary collaboration, (3) professional autonomy and reflective practice, (4) towards a flat organizational structure and shared goals, (5) openness and flexibility of developing new cultures, and (6) open and frequent communication for success. Each of the themes can exert a facilitating or/and inhibiting effect depending on the context. The findings indicate that multidisciplinary teamwork in reablement settings is diverse, complex, and situational. In this paper, we propose a conceptual model that integrates each theme as a way to understand the complexity and interconnectedness of the themes along the quest for greater multidisciplinary teamwork in reablement. Given the positive outcomes of both service consumers and providers, amplification of multidisciplinary teamwork within reablement holds the promise of effective care for older persons in a time of growing service demands.