Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Access
    • Multimedia
    • Podcast
    • Collections
    • Past Issues
    • Articles by Subject
    • Articles by Type
    • Supplements
    • Plain Language Summaries
    • Calls for Papers
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Job Seekers
    • Media
  • About
    • Annals of Family Medicine
    • Editorial Staff & Boards
    • Sponsoring Organizations
    • Copyrights & Permissions
    • Announcements
  • Engage
    • Engage
    • e-Letters (Comments)
    • Subscribe
    • Podcast
    • E-mail Alerts
    • Journal Club
    • RSS
    • Annals Forum (Archive)
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
  • Careers

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
Annals of Family Medicine
  • My alerts
Annals of Family Medicine

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Access
    • Multimedia
    • Podcast
    • Collections
    • Past Issues
    • Articles by Subject
    • Articles by Type
    • Supplements
    • Plain Language Summaries
    • Calls for Papers
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Job Seekers
    • Media
  • About
    • Annals of Family Medicine
    • Editorial Staff & Boards
    • Sponsoring Organizations
    • Copyrights & Permissions
    • Announcements
  • Engage
    • Engage
    • e-Letters (Comments)
    • Subscribe
    • Podcast
    • E-mail Alerts
    • Journal Club
    • RSS
    • Annals Forum (Archive)
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Follow annalsfm on Twitter
  • Visit annalsfm on Facebook
Research ArticleTheory

Learning and Caring in Communities of Practice: Using Relationships and Collective Learning to Improve Primary Care for Patients with Multimorbidity

Hassan Soubhi, Elizabeth A. Bayliss, Martin Fortin, Catherine Hudon, Marjan van den Akker, Robert Thivierge, Nancy Posel and David Fleiszer
The Annals of Family Medicine March 2010, 8 (2) 170-177; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.1056
Hassan Soubhi
MD, PhD
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Elizabeth A. Bayliss
MD, MSPH
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Martin Fortin
MD, MSc, CMFC
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Catherine Hudon
MD, CMFC
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Marjan van den Akker
PhD
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Robert Thivierge
MD
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Nancy Posel
RN, MEd
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
David Fleiszer
MD
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

We introduce a primary care practice model for caring for patients with multimorbidity. Primary care for these patients requires flexibility and ongoing coordination, and it often must be tailored to individual circumstances. Such complex and flexible care could be accomplished within communities of practice, whose participants are willing to learn from their shared practice, further each other’s goals, share their stories of success and failure, and promote the continued evolution of collective learning. Primary care in these communities would be conceived as a complex adaptive process in which the participants use an iterative approach to care improvement that integrates what they learn and do collectively over time. Clinicians in these communities would define common goals, cocreate care plans, and engage in reflective case-based learning. As community members manage their knowledge, gain insights, and develop new care strategies, they can improve care for patients with multiple conditions. Using a mix of methods, future research should explore the conditions that are necessary for collective learning within communities of clinicians who care for patients with multimorbidity and who develop new knowledge in practice. By understanding these conditions, we can foster the development of collective learning and improve primary care for these patients.

  • Primary health care
  • multimorbidity
  • community of practice
  • interprofessional practice
  • collective learning
  • complex adaptive systems
  • Received for publication November 11, 2008.
  • Revision received June 19, 2009.
  • Accepted for publication July 23, 2009.
  • © 2010 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
View Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

The Annals of Family Medicine: 8 (2)
The Annals of Family Medicine: 8 (2)
Vol. 8, Issue 2
1 Mar 2010
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
  • In Brief
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Annals of Family Medicine.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Learning and Caring in Communities of Practice: Using Relationships and Collective Learning to Improve Primary Care for Patients with Multimorbidity
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Annals of Family Medicine
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Annals of Family Medicine web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
4 + 2 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
Learning and Caring in Communities of Practice: Using Relationships and Collective Learning to Improve Primary Care for Patients with Multimorbidity
Hassan Soubhi, Elizabeth A. Bayliss, Martin Fortin, Catherine Hudon, Marjan van den Akker, Robert Thivierge, Nancy Posel, David Fleiszer
The Annals of Family Medicine Mar 2010, 8 (2) 170-177; DOI: 10.1370/afm.1056

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Get Permissions
Share
Learning and Caring in Communities of Practice: Using Relationships and Collective Learning to Improve Primary Care for Patients with Multimorbidity
Hassan Soubhi, Elizabeth A. Bayliss, Martin Fortin, Catherine Hudon, Marjan van den Akker, Robert Thivierge, Nancy Posel, David Fleiszer
The Annals of Family Medicine Mar 2010, 8 (2) 170-177; DOI: 10.1370/afm.1056
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • INTRODUCTION
    • COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE: AN ITERATIVE APPROACH TO CARE IMPROVEMENT
    • EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE AND THEORY LINKING CARE PROCESS AND OUTCOMES TO RELATIONSHIPS AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING
    • DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE IN PRIMARY CARE
    • ALTERNATIVE MODELS OF COMPLEX CARE DELIVERY
    • RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS
    • Footnotes
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Violent states and traumatised organisations: Working with disappointed people in disappointing places
  • Interactions: understanding people and process in prescribing in primary care
  • In This Issue: Tools to Help Focus on What is Valuable
  • Achieving Coordinated Care for Patients With Complex Cases of Cancer: A Multiteam System Approach
  • Bridging gaps to promote networked care between teams and groups in health delivery systems: a systematic review of non-health literature
  • Prescribing for patients with multimorbidity: aiming to tailor to patient-set goals
  • Understanding the Context of Health for Persons With Multiple Chronic Conditions: Moving From What Is the Matter to What Matters
  • Natural History of Practice Transformation: Development and Initial Testing of an Outcomes-Based Model
  • Effects of Facilitated Team Meetings and Learning Collaboratives on Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates in Primary Care Practices: A Cluster Randomized Trial
  • How can we treat multiple chronic conditions?
  • Annals Journal Club: A Patient-Physician Journey
  • Multidisciplinary Discourse
  • Tip of the Iceberg
  • In This Issue: Relationships Count for Patients and Doctors Alike
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Adherence Labeling: Understanding the Origins, Limitations, and Ethical Challenges of “Diagnosing” Nonadherence
  • Unhurried Conversations in Health Care Are More Important Than Ever: Identifying Key Communication Practices for Careful and Kind Care
  • Refining Vendor-Defined Measures to Accurately Quantify EHR Workload Outside Time Scheduled With Patients
Show more Theory

Similar Articles

Subjects

  • Other research types:
    • PBRN research
    • Professional practice
  • Core values of primary care:
    • Relationship
  • Other topics:
    • Education
    • Communication / decision making
    • Multimorbidity

Content

  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Early Access
  • Plain-Language Summaries
  • Multimedia
  • Podcast
  • Articles by Type
  • Articles by Subject
  • Supplements
  • Calls for Papers

Info for

  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • Job Seekers
  • Media

Engage

  • E-mail Alerts
  • e-Letters (Comments)
  • RSS
  • Journal Club
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Subscribe
  • Family Medicine Careers

About

  • About Us
  • Editorial Board & Staff
  • Sponsoring Organizations
  • Copyrights & Permissions
  • Contact Us
  • eLetter/Comments Policy

© 2025 Annals of Family Medicine