The team that plays together stays together: the effect of departmental Christmas party attendance on team cohesion within a healthcare setting.

Objectives: To understand the effect of attendance at departmental Christmas parties on cohesion and teamwork within the healthcare setting. METHOD DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS/INTERVENTIONS/OUTCOME MEASURES: We used the 'Team Development Measure' questionnaire to assess team cohesiveness among healthcare professionals before and after departmental Christmas parties took place. A pooled mean score (PMS) of responses was used to compare between groups.

Results: There were no significant differences in perceived measures of team cohesion when comparing responses before (PMS=1.86±0.20) and after (PMS=1.91±0.22) the departmental Christmas party (p=0.37), nor was there a significant difference when comparing responses from attendees (PMS=1.83±0.23, PMS=1.89±0.24, p=0.52) or non-attendees (PMS=1.84±1.47, PMS=1.83±0.15, p=0.91). No difference was observed between professional groups (PMS=1.85±0.23, PMS=1.95±0.18, p=0.064).

Conclusion: Attendance at departmental Christmas parties does not seem to result in improved team cohesion.