SOCIAL, PROFESSIONAL, AND EDUCATIONAL VALUES ON THE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM - IMPLICATIONS FOR GERONTOLOGICAL AND GERIATRIC EDUCATION

Values define and guide the practice of health care professionals, and educational programs also reflect prevailing academic norms, assumptions, and principles. Initiatives to develop interdisciplinary instructional programs in gerontological and geriatric teamwork are heavily influenced by social and academic values that emphasize individualism, competition, and unidisciplinary thinking. I analyze the influence of these values on interprofessional education and develop a framework for conceptualizing the role of values on the interdisciplinary health care team. This structure encompasses dimensions or axes relating to professional-client and professional-professional relationships and to the emerging importance of shared team values. Implications for gerontological and geriatric programs and pedagogy are explored particularly with regard to the development of instructional models and methods.