We are a rehabilitation team from the CIUSSS Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, Lethbridge-Layton-Mackay Rehabilitation Centre that offers services/support to clients at Philip E. Layton (PEL), a specialized school for children with vision impairments/multiple impairments within the English Montreal School Board. We have over 50 employees working together to increase the independence, social participation, and quality of life of these clients. Since we are two different organizations collaborating with the same clients, we needed to ensure that client information was up to date and that we had our priorities aligned in order to help them achieve their goals. Inspired by the hospital model of “rounds” in patient rooms, combined with the office trend of “stand-up meetings,” we created “interdisciplinary morning huddles.” There are nine classes at PEL. Each class was given a timeslot (1 x every 3 weeks from 8 a.m. to 8:20 a.m.). At this time, everyone working with clients in this class (rehab and education) gathers for a quick 20-minute discussion. Each client is listed on a white board, which helps guide the conversation on each individual, including new information to share/challenges, the focus for the client for the next few weeks, and follow-ups to do/by who. At the end of the huddle, the white board remains in the classroom with the notes so everyone can refer to it during the weeks between huddles. The huddles have facilitated interdisciplinary collaboration, inspired innovative ideas, reduced miscommunication, and optimized discussion time to allow more direct time with clients.
Project submitted by Emily Lecker, Occupational Therapist, Manager of Rehabilitation Program in Specialized Schools
Other contributors: Enza Stabile (Special Care Counselor, project lead), Hema Patel (Clinical Coordinator), Bonny Benoit (Administrative Assistant), + the entire multidisciplinary team including special care counselors, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, physiotherapists, kinesiology, music therapy, nursing, social work, psychology, psychoeducation, patient-care-attendants (PABs) + the educational team including teachers, resource teachers, and child-care workers.
