Janet was diagnosed with Autism when she was about 4 years old. Her parents brought her to a Developmental Pediatrician who made the diagnosis then. She was then referred to various other professionals. She initially saw a Speech and Language Pathologist to help her with her speech. At 4, she was barely able to say words clearly, much less say phrases or construct sentences. After a couple of months of intensive speech therapy, she was then referred to an Occupational Therapist. She appeared to have delays in being able to control both her big muscles and her small muscles. Her gait and coordination was also not very good, and her attention span was rather short. Janet eventually had to enter a school that could accommodate her special needs.
Clearly, a few professionals are involved in making sure that Janet’s needs are met. This is not unusual, particularly with children who have special needs. Some questions that come to mind when a few professionals are involved in serving the same person are as follows:
- To what extent should the professionals work together? Is it enough that progress reports get passed on from one professional to another or should there be a greater collaboration and coordination among these professionals?
- If they are to coordinate, how often should they meet and what should they discuss in these team conferences?
- How can parents and guardians get involved in all these collaborations? What roles do family members have in these situations?
- When there are decisions to be made, who makes it for the client? To what extent can medical professionals recommend appropriate educational environments for these youngsters? When there are conflicting opinions, who has the last say?
The questions I am raising above are very pertinent questions both for professionals like myself who work with various clients seen by different professionals concurrently, and clients and their families. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to many of these questions. In the end, the primary stakeholder in any situation is the client. When this client is a child, parents take the lead in making sure that the best interests of the child is protected at all times. At the same time, all professionals must have this in mind as well.
Maximizing the team collaboration among various professionals in the Philippines is a huge challenge. With various professionals working in different settings and hardly having a common venue to meet and discuss common clients, clients and their families may find themselves taking at least some effort to coordinate various professional services. Many families also lack the necessary knowledge and resources to even do this.
My colleagues and I in PsychConsult regularly experience the challenges of closely collaborating with various allied professionals who work with both children and adults alike. Because of this, we have chosen to discuss this important matter as our main program in celebration of our 10th anniversary. We entitled our round table discussion “Enriching Filipino Minds and Hearts: A Multidisciplinary Collaboration among Allied Mental Health Practitioners.” Various professionals and stakeholders will be there to express their views on the concept of professional collaboration, and how these are translated into everyday practice. Speakers are also invited to express ideas and strategies on further improving this collaborative thrust. 
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