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Multidisciplinary Teams in Rural and Remote Mental Health

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Handbook of Rural, Remote, and very Remote Mental Health

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Abstract

Multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) provide a context and structure by which person-centered comprehensive mental health care is provided by multiple professional disciplines. Driven by an increased demand by the community for innovative and increasingly complex care within mental health settings, MDTs provide advantages and challenges to rural and remote professionals and services. The possession of the competencies required to deliver effective care in a MDT environment should ultimately be the key determinant of team membership. Preparing for issues such as leadership, clinical responsibility and role ambiguity, professional autonomy and limits of therapeutic expertise, decision-making and resolution of disagreements, team philosophy, and supervision is important prerequisites for rural and remote mental health clinicians. Ensuring adequate resourcing, membership, clarity of purpose, clear decision-making processes, effective communication, participation and ongoing evaluation, and monitoring makes for effective and efficient MDTs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rural Clinical School of WA, University of Western Australia, Albany, WA, Australia

    Mathew Coleman

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  1. Mathew Coleman
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Correspondence to Mathew Coleman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Flinders University, Centre for Remote Health, Alice Springs, NT, Australia

    Timothy A. Carey

  2. Fac. of Business, Justice a. Behav. Sci., Charles Sturt University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Judith Gullifer

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Coleman, M. (2020). Multidisciplinary Teams in Rural and Remote Mental Health. In: Carey, T.A., Gullifer, J. (eds) Handbook of Rural, Remote, and very Remote Mental Health. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5012-1_39-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5012-1_39-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-5012-1

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