Measuring the quality of interprofessional collaboration in child mental health collaborative care

Objective: This pilot study examines the potential utility of the Perception of Interprofessional Collaboration Model and the Shared Decision Making scales in evaluating the quality of partnership in child mental health collaborative care. 

Methods: 96 primary care professionals working with children and youth responded to an internet survey which included the Perception of Interprofessional Collaboration Model scale (PINCOM-Q) and an adapted version of a Shared Decision Making scale (Échelle de confort décisionnel, partenaire - ECD-P). The perceptions of child mental health professionals were compared with those of other professionals working with children. 

Results: The PINCOM- Q and the ECD-P scales had an excellent internal consistency and they were moderately correlated. Child mental health professionals' Individual Interprofessional Collaboration scores from the PINCOM-Q Individual aspects subscale were better than that of other child professionals.

Conclusion: These scales may be interesting instruments to measure the quality of partnership in child mental health collaborative care settings. Research needs to replicate these findings and to determine whether the quality of collaboration is a predictor of mental health outcome.