Please enable JavaScript to use file uploader.
by Elisheva Lightstone, School of Nursing
in the March 2021 issue
What is Interprofessional Education?Interprofessional education (IPE) occurs when students from two or more professions learn about, from, and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes (WHO, 2010).
Why Interprofessional Education is ImportantStudies show that when health care professionals work together in interprofessional teams, the quality of care improves. Interprofessional teams have been shown to deliver safe, high quality care, lower costs, decrease length of stay, and reduce medical errors in hospitalized patients (Buring et al., 2009). The goal of interprofessional education is to prepare health professional students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for collaborative interprofessional practice. As well, studies show that students learn more from active learning than passive learning activities (Morrell et al., 2021). In order to develop an interprofessional education program, the first steps in establishing a program must be determined.
Establishment of an Interprofessional Education CommitteeThe School of Nursing is interested in developing an interprofessional education program at Seneca College. To develop an interprofessional education program, authors have suggested following a few different steps (Bridges et al., 2011). The first step is to establish an interprofessional education committee. Chairs and Deans that represent the health programs would work together to establish an Interprofessional Education Committee (IPEC).
Determine Goals of the IPECThe goals of the IPEC could include:
Determine Priorities of the IPECAfter goals are established by the IPEC, requests for volunteers to the interprofessional education committee could be made to address substantive issues of how to operationalize interprofessional education. The IPEC would need to determine the priorities of the IPE program. Discussion and collaboration could include topics about
The IPEC could consider using the six common interprofessional competencies discussed in the literature to teach and evaluate: communication skills, person-centred care, role clarification, team functioning, collaborative leadership, and interprofessional conflict resolution. The IPEC could contemplate using techniques and tools described in the literature to teach the competencies, including developing case studies, simulations, games, and embedding IPE into existing courses. The IPEC may want to use the Student Perception of Interprofessional Clinical Education Revised (SPICE-R) instrument, pre- and post-technique, to assess the change in students’ understanding of the competencies.
Outcomes and EvaluationTo determine outcomes and evaluation of the program, the IPEC could
Chairs and Deans may consider holding a faculty development retreat to build capacity for assessing IPE.
SummaryInterprofessional education programs have been established at many universities and colleges throughout Canada and the world. Preparing students in health programs to collaborate effectively with other health care professionals after graduation has been shown to be vitally important to improve clients’ health outcomes and reduce costs. Seneca is poised to embark on this challenge now with the upcoming commencement of new and recently established programs in Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Personal Support Worker, and Honours Bachelor of Healthcare Management. These new programs can link with the many well-established programs in the School of Health Sciences, School of Nursing, School of Community Services, School of Public Safety, and School of Early Childhood Education to enrich the interprofessional education collaboration initiative and build a robust program.
References
Bridges, D. R., Davidson, R.A., Odegard, P. S., Maki, I. V. & Tomkowiak, J. (2011) Interprofessional collaboration: three best practice models of interprofessional education, Medical Education Online, 16(1), https://doi.org/10.3402/meo.v16i0.6035
Buring, S. M., Bhushan, A., Broeseker, A., Conway, S., Duncan-Hewitt, W., Hansen, L., & Westberg, S. (2009). Interprofessional education: definitions, student competencies, and guidelines for implementation. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 73(4), 59. https://doi.org/10.5688/aj730459
Morrell B.L.M., Cecil K.A., Nichols A.M., Moore E.S., Carmack J.N., Hetzler K.E., Toon J, & Jochum J.E. (2021). Interprofessional Education Week: the impact of active and passive learning activities on students' perceptions of interprofessional education. Journal of Interprofessional Care, Jan 15: pgs. 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2020.1856798
World Health Organization (2010). Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice. Geneva, WHO 2010. https://www.who.int/hrh/resources/framework_action/en/
View the March 2021 issue of the Academic Newsletter.
Your session has expired. You are being logged out.