Communication in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

Working in an Interprofessional Team

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TCM practitioners working in an interprofessional team may face additional difficulties on top of the usual difficulties mentioned in the videos above. This is because of the differences in paradigms of TCM and biomedical healthcare (Gabourya, Bujoldb, Boonc & Moherd, 2009). The combination of biomedical and TCM approach in an interprofessional team is also known as integrative healthcare, and this form of collaboration differs from the typical type of teams described in literatures (Gabourya et al., 2009).

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​Generally, professional maturity and intellectual curiosity are important facilitating collaborative practice (Gabourya et al., 2009). Effective team cohesion requires TCM practitioners to be self-aware of strengths and limitations related to the TCM paradigm, and to appreciate and understand other health professionals’ strengths and limitations of their fields (Gabourya et al., 2009).

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I will consider using the self-reflection using Johari Window to better understand myself as a TCM practitioner, reconcile with any values and personal beliefs I have and set them aside so as to adopt an open-mind and avoid making stereotypical judgments about other health professionals (DeVito, 2016; Egan, 2014). By acknowledging my own limitations, I would more readily make appropriate client referral and provide safer care for the client (Gabourya et al., 2009).

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I would also consider adopting the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework to help explain to other health professionals what aspects of the clients TCM can address. The ICF framework adopts a holistic bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach to patient-centred care, which could potentially minimise the barrier to interprofessional communication (Snyman, Von Pressentin & Marina Clarke, 2015). Figure 1 shows how I would use ICF framework to show what aspects of the patient TCM can address.

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