A practitioner’s perspective of multidisciplinary teams: Analysis of potential barriers and key factors for success

The concept of Multidisciplinary team working is well established in the literature within health and social sciences, as well as in the last decade within sport science teams. Knowledge and expertise that stems from different disciplines, which aim to be complementary and enriching can bring great benefits and potentially positive outcomes to clients, teams and organisation as a whole. However, little has been written and reported on the barriers and risks that stem from this multidisciplinary approach. The aim of this paper is to highlight and reflect on the potential barriers and risk factors that arise within this concept of multidisciplinary teams approach and to present and reflect on some corrective treatments. Suggestions which function as critical factors for success are then presented. This paper solely reflects on the author’s experiences in working within multidisciplinary teams over a period of time of twenty-four months across a number of health, education and social care providers in the UK. A framework is suggested in order to better understand and ultimately address some of the challenges faced by this approach. Furthermore the paper proposes drivers for positive change which are highlighted in this context.