Objective: To review the constructs and applications of interdisciplinary teams in mental health services, with a particular view to ascertaining the most effective types of teams and their leadership.
Method: Some of the most challenging questions from a psychiatrist's viewpoint regarding the functions of interdisciplinary teams in the mental health service are addressed.
Results: The effectiveness of the interdisciplinary team in mental health services is supported by an extensive literature that is much more qualitative and descriptive than quantitative and empirically rigorous, except as part of packages of variables subjected to randomized controlled trials.
Conclusion: Effective interdisciplinary teamwork in mental health services involves both retaining differentiated disciplinary roles and developing shared core tasks. It requires sound leadership, effective team management, clinical supervision and explicit mechanisms for resolving role conflicts and ensuring safe practices. No one profession should hold a monopoly on leadership.