Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Interdisciplinary team-based models of care in rheumatology are a potential solution to supporting the current rheumatology workforce in providing equitable, accessible, and high-quality care for people living with rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders. This study aimed to use consensus-based methods to identify and prioritise strategies that can be used to enhance the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of team-based rheumatology care in Canada. We included Canadian rheumatology health professionals, consisting of rheumatologists and interdisciplinary health professionals (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, and chiropractors) with experience working in interdisciplinary rheumatology teams. Participants took part in a two-round Delphi study where they provided ratings and feedback on potentially useful strategies. Our findings suggest that Canadian rheumatology health professionals agreed that support and training for clinicians, shared team communication mechanisms, and access to sustainable funding were the most useful strategies for optimal team-based rheumatology care. This study will support the next phase of our research, which will aim to develop ways to operationalise these strategies and develop an overall implementation approach for team-based rheumatology care through co-designing with patients, clinicians, researchers, and organisation/policy representatives.