LEARNING FROM EDUCATION: WHAT THE TEAMWORK LITERATURE IN SPECIAL EDUCATION CAN TEACH GERONTOLOGISTS ABOUT TEAM TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The 1975 passage of Public Law 94‐142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) mandated that public school districts develop interprofessional teams as the core of the decision‐making process in special education for children with learning or behavioral problems. The subsequent development of these teams provides a unique natural experiment in how such a service approach affects institutions, professionals, and consumers—with many potential lessons for the development, implementation, and training of geriatric health care teams. This paper explores four major themes: First, the historical trends leading up to the 1975 special education legislation, its perceived impact, and the continuing debate over the relative effectiveness of teams within the field are reviewed. Second, the ongoing discussion about the types of conflicts and problems arising from the use of interdisciplinary teams—such as role ambiguity and overlap—is summarized, and similarities in the gerontological literature are highlighted. Third, research on the varying degrees of participation of team members (including families) and their corresponding levels of satisfaction with the team process is summarized. This discussion also includes specific concerns about the decision‐making process among interprofessional teams and proposed models to structure it. Finally, implications of the special education team mandate for the training of participating professionals are explored. Overall, the focus of the discussion is on exploring the relevance of these issues for teamwork education in gerontology and geriatrics.