Theories of Teamwork in Optometry Profession

Running head: PROFESSIONAL ORIENTATION TO HEALTH1
Professional Orientation to Health
Name
Institutional Affiliation

PROFESSIONAL ORIENTATION TO HEALTH 2
Globally job descriptions are evolving to require individuals to work in teams to
achieve goals set by organizations. From the past, people have been encouraged to work together
with sayings such as two heads are better than one being passed on through generations to
encourage teamwork (1). Therefore, teamwork is described as a collaborative effort by a group
of people who have a common goal to achieve and the effort is meant to achieve this.
Specifically, teamwork in healthcare is described as where two or more individuals
interdependently interact with each other with a common goal to achieve in terms of healthcare.
Most professionals in the health sector work in collaboration with each other even though they
belong to different departments with the goal of providing quality and all-around care for a
patient (2). This essay will assess theories of teamwork in relation to activities in the optometry
profession and the consequences of poor teamwork in the profession.
Optometry is a branch of healthcare which deals with the act of assessing individual’s
eyesight, prescribing them with corrective lenses and also testing and detecting cases of eye
disease. Optometrist work in conjunction with other health care providers such as opticians to
provide services for the patient in that the optometrist will prescribe a corrective lens and refer
the patient to an optician who is specialized in designing and fitting of lenses and frames for the
patient. The Belbin’s theory of teamwork can be applied to different aspects of eye care and the
theory states that in any team there are nine distinct roles that need to be fulfilled by different
team members so that the common goal can be achieved (2). These roles are coordinator,
resource investigator, and assessor, monitor evaluator, completer finisher, teamwork, specialist,
shaper, plant, and implementer. However, this does not mean that there should be nine team
member to perform the nine roles in the group as an individual can fulfill two or three roles at the
same time. When this theory is applied it enables people to assess themselves and therefore have