Impact of interprofessional collaboration between long-term care physicians and medical specialists on quality of care and quality of life of long-term care facility residents: a systematic review
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Purpose: The increasing population of long-term care facility (LTCF) residents with complex medical needs presents a growing challenge for healthcare systems. These residents often suffer from multiple chronic conditions, functional decline, cognitive impairments, and a limited social network, making access to medical specialists difficult. Our main aim is to identify the impact of interprofessional collaboration interventions between long-term care (LTC) physicians and medical specialists on the quality of life (QoL) and quality of care (QoC) of LTCF residents. Methods : A systematic literature search in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Cinahl and a manual screening of the reference lists was performed on the impact of interprofessional collaboration between LTC physicians and medical specialists on the QoL and QoC for LTCF residents. The final search was performed on March 3rd 2025 andaccording to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Results : The searches identified 10364 studies of which ultimately 16 studies were included for analysis. Three ways of interprofessional collaboration were identified; teleconsultations, on-site consultation services, and multidisciplinary collaboration interventions. Conclusions : This review suggests that interprofessional collaboration between LTC physicians and medical specialists holds potential to improve the QoL and QoC of LTCF residents. Multidisciplinary collaboration interventions that integrate tele- and on-site consultations with additional elements and support, show promise for sustainable and positive impact. Given the heteogeneity in study designs and outcomes, further research is needed to identify which elements of multidisciplinary collaboration interventions have the greatest impact on the QoL and QoC of LTCF residents.
