Team building. Making collaborative practice work

Collaborative practice offers great promise for maximizing the unique contributions and enhancing the satisfaction of everyone involved in health care, including the consumer. Developing collaborative relationships, however, requires much time and effort. Significant attitudinal, institutional, and behavioral barriers exist. Collaboration occurs between individuals, and each one must understand the concept of collaboration and be committed to investing the time and energy required to develop the relationship and overcome the barriers. The author describes critical attributes of collaboration and discusses how they can be developed and demonstrated.