The Interdisciplinary Care Team Approach in Long-Term Care: Where are We and Where do We Need to Go?

Interdisciplinary care of older adults across all care settings has been shown to have a positive impact on care outcomes, such as decreasing pneumonia and improving end-of-life care.1-5 The studies in long-term care, however, have generally been small, single-site, retrospective studies. By definition, the interdisciplinary care team includes health care professionals from different professional disciplines who work together to manage the physical, psychological, and spiritual needs of the patient.