A Collaborative, Interdisciplinary Approach to Treatment
The best hospitals, universities, treatment centers, and even manufacturing firms harness the power of interdisciplinary teams to ensure that their work benefits from broad, deep, well-coordinated collaboration among all team members. Current outcomes research supports the theory that a high-functioning interdisciplinary team is exponentially more effective than the sum of its members' individual efforts. At New Haven, we employ an advanced, research-supported interdisciplinary approach through our treatment team system.
Our treatment team consists of our clinical director, family therapists, experiential therapists, nurse, teachers, lead supervisors, and shift supervisors. This team, representing every direct-care department, gathers every week to discuss every child and family. Team members discuss each student's progress, level, and interventions. We analyze what's working and what's not working and make adjustments collaboratively based on a 360 degree perspective that no one department could achieve in isolation. These meetings provide every team member with critical information that spans each student's experience at New Haven in all contexts, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. This information, along with contextual information such as family functioning, medication regimen, physical health, and peer relations, helps our team make sound treatment and educational decisions and ensures the highest degree of safety.
As part of each treatment team discussion the student's Master Treatment Plan is reviewed and, as necessary, adjusted to ensure that treatment decisions are coordinated, documented, and implemented.
