A three-pronged approach by a transdisciplinary group of healthcare professionals is raising the bar for patients hurt on the job.

Data and case studies compiled by Institutes of Health (IOH) show specialized evidence-based biopsychosocial care delivers ‘exceptional’ patient outcomes when applied by a transdisciplinary team. Particularly patients living with chronic pain, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), sleep disruption, prescription drug addiction, and brain injuries.

Patients also express more accountability for their behavior with multiple providers present, Neurocognitive Specialist, Dr. Kathleen Turner said.

“Sometimes they will minimize or exaggerate their symptoms when I meet one on one, so it’s helpful to have a voice present that can encourage a reality check,” she added. “It’s also helpful to co-treat when patients lack insight. They get to hear the information from different voices.”

Made up of healthcare professionals from a variety of disciplines, a transdisciplinary team at IOH utilizes a biopsychosocial model to consider the biological, psychological, and social factors to better understand health, illness, injury, and associated disability.

According to IOH, most healthcare is delivered by independent providers in specific disciplines, particularly in workers’ compensation settings. The transdisciplinary approach enables better communication and synthesis between varying disciplines while administering the most integrated care.

Medical Director Dr. Heechin Chae, MD, said, “Transdisciplinary practice can look very similar to interdisciplinary practice on the surface. However, in a transdisciplinary setting, the typical barriers and silos that exist between disciplines are transcended and there is a true and substantial sharing of the rehabilitation process where the team works in a much more integrated manner on the same goals until the patient demonstrates carry-over and a change in behavior.”

In contrast, “each discipline in an interdisciplinary setting defines its own separate goals and although communication between disciplines occurs, integration is still somewhat fragmented compared to a transdisciplinary model,” Chae continued. This can overwhelm the patient who is already experiencing the biopsychosocial vortex.

Addressing illness and injury from a biopsychosocial model requires the evaluation of multiple domains of function, which leads to more informed transdisciplinary treatment, IOH said. The process allows providers to adequately address patients’ functional deficits while reinforcing lifestyle modifications and improving self-management techniques, ensuring sustainable outcomes.

“In a combined treatment session, a psychologist like me can work directly with patients during their cognitive training sessions,” Neurocognitive Specialist Dr. Shelby Moreira said.

I regularly do treatment sessions and groups with speech-language therapists when working with brain injury patients,” she continued. “Clinicians genuinely value the impact of each other’s disciplines and regularly reinforce to the patients the impact that various disciplines have on healing, recovery, and outcomes.”

IOH’s list of rehab resources includes medical providers, psychologists, neuropsychologists, physical, occupational, and speech therapists, Feldenkrais, Alexander technique, aquatic therapy, clinical nutrition, and therapeutic use of art and music.