Multidisciplinary Teams in Rural and Remote Mental Health

Multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) provide a context and structure by which person-centred comprehensive mental health care is provided by multiple professional disciplines. Driven by an increased demand by the community for innovative and increasingly complex care within mental health settings, MDTs provide advantages and challenges to rural and remote professionals and services. The possession of the competencies required to deliver effective care in a MDT environment should ultimately be the key determinant of team membership. Preparing for issues such as leadership, clinical responsibility and role ambiguity, professional autonomy and limits of therapeutic expertise, decision-making and resolution of disagreements, team philosophy, and supervision is important prerequisites for rural and remote mental health clinicians. Ensuring adequate resourcing, membership, clarity of purpose, clear decision-making processes, effective communication, participation and ongoing evaluation, and monitoring makes for effective and efficient MDTs.