ABSTRACT

Interdisciplinary teams emerged in the 1940s and are currently employed in the majority of settings where social workers practice. Interdisciplinary teams call on the specialized knowledge of different groups of professionals as they work collaboratively with clients and families in meeting their goals. The term “team” was originally derived from Old English and first used to refer to “a group of animals harnessed together to draw some vehicle” (Dingwall, 1980, p.135). Various labels are used to describe teams of professionals, including, multidisciplinary, transdisciplinary, interprofessional, and interdisciplinary. Current descriptions of teams include clients and families as core team members along with the professionals serving them.