ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the foundations of collaborative practice in healthcare. The collaborative practice in the 21st-century healthcare that developed in Rochester, New York, is an integration of the work of some pioneers, namely biopsychosocial, family systems, and collaborative practice. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition. The chapter presents physicians approach to facilitating collaborative engagement, including diverse examples of collaborative practices that span community-based primary care through specialized tertiary care settings. It then highlights these practices with patients, families, and professionals in two clinical settings: dealing with assisted reproduction and navigating genetic conditions. Humanistic, collaborative care for family building through assisted reproductive technology supports the complex biopsychosocial needs of intended parents, donors, gestational carriers, and eventual offspring. The chapter finally describes the application of collaborative practice skills through communication coaching with physicians.
