Interdisciplinary Palliative Care Team

Central to palliative care practice - whether in the hospital, outpatient, or hospice setting - is the interdisciplinary team.  In this module, we review key concepts of the model and how interdisciplinary teamwork differs from multidisciplinary work.  

Typically, the members of a palliative care team will include:
  • Physician
  • Nurse
  • Pharmacist
  • Social worker
  • Chaplain
The rationale for this interdisciplinary representation is to assure that patient’s needs are met from a full biopsychosocialspiritual perspective, and engaging experts in each of the domains.  Likewise, expertise needs to be acknowledged and accessed within the team.  The tendency in medical care is to lean on the biological aspects of the illness experience: it is what is taught in schools and reinforced in practice.  A challenge to palliative care teams is to engage the discussion of all its experts.

Articles and video