Care Team Dynamics
- Name the five characteristics of effective health care teams.
- Explain the challenges specific to CHWs within care teams and strategies to address them.
- List tips for promoting successful teamwork.
- Describe the role of CHWs within the healthcare team when the patient's safety is at risk.
Why team dynamics matter
Advocates for the increased use of community health workers believe that CHWs are most effective when they work closely with different healthcare professionals in a multidisciplinary care team. They call for CHWs to have access to their patients' health records, be part of meetings to discuss cases, and have a voice in making care plans.
Care teams should be more than just a collection of individuals with diverse skills. It's the collaborative effort and synergy among team members that enhances — or hinders — patient care.
What are team dynamics?
Team dynamics are the invisible behavioral forces operating between members of a team — personalities, roles and responsibilities, conscious and unconscious behaviors.
A team might have the skills to do the job — but it takes cooperation to coordinate the variety of tasks involved.
The CHW's role in the healthcare team
CHWs serve on the front lines, working directly with individuals in their communities. CHW services include:
- Outreach to new individuals
- Screenings and assessments
- Home visits
- Health education
- Action planning
- Consistent communication with patients
Five characteristics of effective teams
Shared Goals
All members (including the patient) establish shared goals. These reflect patient and family priorities, and are clearly communicated, understood, and accepted by all.
Four common ways healthcare teams communicate
Great for sharing and accessing patient information. Less interactive than other methods.
Which of the following is one of the five characteristics of positive team dynamics?
Match each team communication method to its description.
Meet Janice
Janice is a new CHW joining a care team at a local health clinic. The team includes doctors, nurses, and social workers. She quickly notices challenges.
Janice's initial challenges
How Janice overcame the challenges
Successful teamwork checklist
- Become familiar with other roles and disciplines — every team member has an important role.
- Know your "scope of practice" — understand your responsibilities and areas of expertise. Ask if something is unclear.
- Participate actively in team meetings and case conferences — own your role.
- Be adaptable — different teams have different expectations and ways of doing things.
- Bring your "best self" to work — stay positive; provide culturally respectful, patient-centered care.
- Keep up to date with your documentation — consistently update and maintain accurate records.
- Focus on solutions more than problems — acknowledge challenges, but resolve them.
- Take responsibility for mistakes — accept errors professionally.
- Learn to receive and provide critical feedback — active listening when receiving; specific behaviors and improvements when giving.
- Maintain close communication with your supervisor — seek support and guidance proactively.
- Don't avoid big or persistent problems — communicate concerns respectfully (a meeting with your supervisor, a team gathering, or a case conference).
When patient safety is at risk
In the daily work of a CHW, issues related to physical, mental, and social well-being can arise. Address these within your scope of practice — and collaborate with the care team for proper follow-up.
Examples of safety issues
What CHWs should do
Care team roles in safety situations
Click a card to flip · ← → to navigate
A CHW becomes aware during a home visit that a patient is having thoughts of suicide. What is the most appropriate action?
Think of a time you joined a new team. Which of Janice's four challenges felt most familiar, and what helped you find your footing?
Which item on the successful teamwork checklist is your strongest? Which one will you work on first?
🌟 Lesson takeaways
Successful care teams share five characteristics: shared goals, clear roles, mutual trust, effective communication, and measurable processes and outcomes. CHWs on the front line face specific challenges — limited understanding of their role, underappreciation of community-based work, respect and perception issues, and perceived misalignment with the agency. Janice's strategies (educate, demonstrate value, build collaboration, balance advocacy and protocols, communicate openly) show how to overcome them. When patient safety is at risk, collaboration with the whole team — not heroic solo action — is what protects everyone.
Great work! At the end of this module, you'll join a live discussion with your cohort and an instructor. We'll see you there.