Organizational or Patient Issue
The quality of healthcare in a prison environment is critical as it requires a high level of interdisciplinary care. The issue onboard is the increased Tuberculosis spread in the prison system, as evidenced by the daily test results (Farhoudi et al. 2020). The proposal focuses on providing an interdisciplinary management plan, specifically, a TB-1to reduce Tuberculosis within the prison facility. The interdisciplinary team will consider all the internal and external factors that cause a drastic increase in Tuberculosis cases in an enclosed system.
The interdisciplinary team should care about addressing the health problem because of key major reasons. TB is a common illness in prison facilities compared to the general community. Even today, as healthcare professionals expand concerns to address public health issues and preventable illnesses, TB is being transited in correctional centers. The risk factor of disease transmission is higher in undiagnosed offenders who have active symptoms and can quickly infect others in prison or community settings. According to Farhoudi et al. (2020), TB is more prevalent in prisons than it is in the general public. Several outbreaks occur in these settings in a year, threatening prisoners as well as employees.
The Relevance of an Interdisciplinary Team Approach
Ideally, the plan’s objective is to establish a tuberculosis management team that comprises healthcare specialists. Using this approach is significant because it helps to avoid risks by weighing them against benefits. Moreover, the intended outcomes should be long-lasting, impacting the wellness of individuals in the prison community (Farhoudi et al., 2020). The healthcare specialist team is expected to develop a long-term strategy that will offer treatment to the current cases and curb possible outbreaks in the future. The team will also strategically involve the prison management to achieve some of the goals, such as changing the facilities’ architectural phase
An interdisciplinary team is a collection of healthcare professionals from different fields who work collaboratively towards a common goal, providing the best outcome possible. Through a collaborative effort, there is an exchange of ideas, sharing of knowledge, evaluation of plans, and analysis of the situation to inform progress as well as best practices. The team has the potential to devise a care plan that will maximize results (Smith et al., 2017). The care team will include pulmonologists, molecular epidemiologists, pharmacologists, microbiologists, physicians from the infectious disease department, nurses, psychologists, and surgeons. The team will share knowledge on the most effective way of controlling infectious diseases in a restricted area.
Interdisciplinary Plan Summary
The objective of the plan will involve the establishment of a tuberculosis management team comprising healthcare specialists. The healthcare specialists’ team is expected to develop a long-term strategy that will offer treatment to the current cases and curb possible outbreaks in the future. The team will also strategically involve the prison management to achieve some of the goals, such as changing the architectural phase of the facilities. With effective communication, the availability of necessary resources, and the utilization of evidence-based research, the plan will likely work by lowering disease spread rates after some threatening factors are identified.
The team of medical specialists will offer medical advice applicable during the architectural design of the prison facilities. The prison facility’s poor aeration is a suspected factor to cause the spread of Tuberculosis and the lack of isolation spaces. The specialists will consider both internal and external factors that are likely to deteriorate the problem. The interdisciplinary team must participate directly in treating the disease and offer the best isolation advice to the facility management (Smith et al., 2017). Professionals such as pharmacologists, microbiologists, physicians from the infectious disease department, nurses, psychologists, and surgeons must share knowledge on the most effective way of controlling the infectious disease.
Implementation and Resource Management
The change theory applied for the particular plan is an evidence-based approach to give all specialists equal opportunities. The strategy focuses on providing a productive organization of the team members to increase the level of collaboration. The team members will use online channels to ease communication and share ideas at any point. Online communication channels can give adequate time for practical operations required as part of the healthcare plan, while constant motivation will be part of the leadership to activate their morale in designing the most effective tuberculosis management plan. Epidemiologists will educate the rest team members on TB etiology, distribution, and spreading within the prison population (Pype et al., 2018).
Microbiologists should advise on the nature of the mycobacterium tuberculosis and interpret any data regarding its spread. Staffing needs for the plan include security due to the social and psychological status of the patients. The facility will need extra security officers to work alongside the selected healthcare specialists. The equipment required for the interdisciplinary plan is isolation rooms, meeting rooms, ventilators, fully equipped laboratory for tests and research.
Evaluation
One way to measure the plan’s progress and note success indicators are by staying within the budget. The facility will require approximately thirty thousand dollars to purchase the drugs for TB treatment and temporarily expand the isolation or meeting rooms, which cost around $700,000 (Smith et al., 2017). The final budget is about $ 750 000 to ensure that the interdisciplinary team achieves the main objectives (Smith et al., 2017). Effective use of resources points to the success of the project and must remain within a stipulated budget. After a certain period, of treatment patients will receive a second assessment to re-examine their conditions, anticipating results to show improvement. Reduced disease spread and confirmation of improvement in wellbeing will justify the plan’s success.
References
Farhoudi, B., SeyedAlinaghi, S., Dadras, O., Tashakoriyan, M., Pouya, M. N., Gouya, M. M., & Dolan, K. (2020). Health service provision for disease control among prisoners: A conceptual note. Journal of Health Research, 34(4) 353-358.
Pype, P., Mertens, F., Helewaut, F., & Krystallidou, D. (2018). Healthcare teams as complex adaptive systems: Understanding team behavior through team members’ perception of interpersonal interaction. BMC Health Services Research, 18(1), 1-13.
Smith, C. B., Phillips, T., & Smith, T. J. (2017). Using the new ASCO clinical practice guideline for palliative care concurrent with oncology care using the TEAM approach. American Society of Clinical Oncology Educational Book, 37, 714-723.