Interdisciplinary Care: Together We Can Do Something Wonderful

The care of older adults in PALTC settings is complicated and requires us to address the co-occurring physical, behavioral, social, and functional challenges of our patients. Twenty years ago, the Institute of Medicine recommended that team-based care was needed to minimize the fragmentation of health care delivery and to improve the quality of patient care (Crossing the Quality Chiasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century, 2001). Additionally, since the 1990s, federal regulations for nursing homes require an interdisciplinary approach in the development and implementation of the care planning process.