Evolving global responses to the pandemic: sustaining interprofessional education and collaborative practice

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a sizable effect on interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) globally, yet much of the available literature on the topic remains anecdotal and locally bounded. This body of literature reflects celebratory and aspirational reports, with many case studies of successful response and perseverance under conditions of extreme pressure. There is, however, a more worrisome narrative emerging that pointed to differences in pandemic response with concerns raised about the sustainability of IPECP during and after the pandemic. The COVID-19 task force of InterprofessionalResearch.Global (IPRGlobal) set out to capture the successes and challenges of the interprofessional community over the pandemic through a longitudinal survey, with a view to inform global attempts at recovery and resilience. In this article, we report preliminary findings from Phase 1 of the survey. Phase 1 of the survey was sent to institutions/organizations in IPRGlobal (representing over 50 countries from Europe, North and South America, Australia, and Africa). The country-level response rate was over 50%. Key opportunities and challenges include the abrupt digitalization of collaborative learning and practice; de-prioritization of interprofessional education (IPE); and rise in interprofessional collaborative spirit. Implications for IPECP pedagogy, research, and policy post-pandemic are considered.

Background: Interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPE/IPC) are essential for preparing students to work together and respect the unique qualities and abilities of professionals. However, IPE/IPC are highly abstract phenomena and complicated to assess and measure. In consequence, a critical appraisal is needed to evaluate the quality of the instruments. Purpose: This study aimed to critically appraise, compare and summarize the quality of measurement properties of all self-report collaboration questionnaires for health professional students and to provide evidence concerning the psychometric properties of the measurement Methods: A psychometric review was employed, and the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) approach was applied to assess the methodological quality of the nature of the measurements. Data search using keywords: health professional students, interprofessional, collaboration, teamwork, collaborative, through MEDLINE, EMBASE, and EBSCO-hosted Education Resource Information Center databases. Results: Seven instruments from 10 studies reviewed were identified. Among them, four instruments targeted attitudes toward collaboration. One instrument focused on students' collaborative learning readiness and had been tested in Hong Kong using English, in Iran using Persian, and in Indonesia using Bahasa Indonesia. One instrument measured perceptions about IPE, and two studies measured IPE/IPC competencies related to patient-centered, team-based, and collaborative care. The methodological quality assessment indicated that several instruments were less rigorously developed and validated than COSMIN and Quality Criteria of Measurement Properties recommend. Conclusions: The findings of this psychometric review additionally provide a strategy to select and develop the most appropriate instrument to assess IPE/IPC following their purpose, psychometric properties, and utility.

A rising trend is being observed in enhancing Inter-Professional Education and Collaborative Practice (IPECP) in health care settings. Empirical evidence on its effects, particularly in youth settings, remains limited. This study examined the moderating role of inter-professional learning in the relation between youth work practitioners’ self-efficacy in social work and their creative self-efficacy and innovative behaviour. A total of 227 youth work practitioners from sixteen district-based youth services in Hong Kong were invited to participate in a survey. The results of regression analyses indicate a positive association between practitioners’ sense of self-efficacy in social work and their creative self-efficacy and innovative behaviour. They also show a positive association between practitioners’ inter-professional learning experience and their creative self-efficacy and innovative behaviour. However, concerning the interaction effect between self-efficacy in social work and inter-professional learning, the results indicate that the positive relationship between self-efficacy in social work and creative self-efficacy and innovative behaviour was weaker for practitioners who had a higher level of inter-professional learning. The promotion of IPECP and the preparation of social workers to be collaboration-ready were deemed essential in fostering an effective multi-agency and multi-profession partnership, especially for seasoned practitioners who were more likely to possess a silo mentality.

In Australia, a national approach to accreditation of programs and regulation of health professions was adopted a decade ago. Accreditation standards and regulatory frameworks can drive change and provide support for interprofessional education and collaborative practice. There is a commonly held belief among Australian academics involved in health professional education, that accreditation and practice standards provide system-level support for interprofessional education and interprofessional collaborative practice. Using a purpose-designed analysis framework and scoring scheme, we analyzed standards of accreditation and practice for 29 regulated, self-regulated and member health professions in Australia to determine the extent and accountability of statements related to interprofessional education and interprofessional collaborative practice. Currently, in Australia, there is a fragmented and inconsistent approach to interprofessional education and interprofessional collaboration evident in accreditation and practice standards and, in general, there are more explicit requirements in standards of the regulated health professions. However, overall the concepts of interprofessional education and interprofessional practice are ill-defined and statements lack accountability and/or outcome measures. Our analysis provides a foundation for reform of Australian standards and an approach for analysis of accreditation and practice standards which may be useful in other jurisdictions.

Validating an interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) curriculum prior to implementation is uncommon. A sound empirical investigation involving external and internal participants considered four criteria: relevance, consistency, practicality, and effectiveness, as part of an educational design research process to assess whether the proposed curriculum content was valid for the South African healthcare higher education context. Participants provided quantitative input on the four criteria on a visual analog scale (0–100) and qualitative comments to suggest improvements to the proposed curriculum. Descriptive statistics and deductive thematic analysis were used for data analysis. The participants lauded the proposed curriculum. Relevance generated strong agreement and consensus (m = 99, IQR = 6.75), with a lower, but still adequate, rating and consensus for practicality (m = 85.5, IQR = 25.75). The consistency and effectiveness, rated across years of study and streams, indicated in ratings and consensus with an increase across years of study from the first to the last year. Of the streams, the proposed Research and Ethics stream appeared to be the most problematic with moderate consensus (m = 90, IQR = 19.75). Curriculum validation before implementation illuminated concerns requiring refinement and strengthening responsive strategies to ensure a tailored implementation of the proposed curriculum.

Background Healthcare is provided by a variety of different professionals, including pharmacists who are integral members of the team, and all are expected to work collaboratively to provide quality care. Little is known about the perceptions of pharmacists in Qatar towards interprofessional collaboration. Positive attitudes towards interprofessional education are essential to successful implementation of interprofessional collaboration. Therefore, to develop effective collaboration strategies in practice settings, it was essential to survey the attitudes of practising pharmacists towards collaboration. Objective To explore the awareness, views, attitudes and perceptions of practising pharmacists in Qatar towards interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Setting Community, hospital and primary healthcare settings in Qatar. Methods This was a two-staged sequential explanatory mixed method design. It utilised a quantitative survey (Stage 1), based on a modified version of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale. This was followed by a qualitative stage, utilising focus groups (Stage 2). Main outcome measures (1) Qatar pharmacists' attitudes towards interprofessional education and collaborative practice; (2) Practising pharmacists' perspectives in relation to enablers, barriers and recommendations regarding interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Results 63% of the practising pharmacists (n = 178) responded to the survey. Three focus groups followed (total n = 14). High scores indicating readiness and positive attitudes towards interprofessional education were reported for pharmacists working in hospital, community and primary healthcare settings. Qualitative analysis identified three overarching themes in relation to the enablers, barriers and recommendations for practising pharmacists working collaboratively. The enabling themes were: professional and patient related benefits, and current positive influences in Qatar; the barriers were patients' negative perceptions; the status of the pharmacy profession and current working practices and processes; the recommendations related to improving patients' perceptions about pharmacists and enhancing the status of pharmacy profession in Qatar. The findings from this study highlighted two major observations: the lack of existence of collaborative practice and hierarchy and power play. Conclusion Pharmacists demonstrated willingness and readiness to develop interprofessional learning and collaborative practice with significant steps already taken towards improving collaborative working practices in different care settings.

BACKGROUND. Interprofessional education (IPE) can be seen as the vehicle to address the health and social problems of society through collaborative
\napproaches. Since IPE should be facilitated by educators who are skilled in this area, faculty development initiatives should be based on the principles
\nof IPE and collaborative practice (IPECP).
\nOBJECTIVE. To explore academics’ knowledge and experiences of IPECP.
\nMETHODS. The study used an exploratory descriptive design and the appreciative inquiry framework underpinned data gathering and analysis. The data
\nwere collected using workshops, and the participants of the workshops shared their knowledge and experiences of IPECP, which were audio-recorded
\nand analysed using thematic analysis. Ethical clearance was obtained from the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.
\nRESULTS. The analysis revealed three themes: knowledge of IPE; experiences of IPECP; and enablers of IPECP aligned to the dream and discovery phases
\nof appreciative inquiry. The findings revealed that academics were knowledgeable about the concept of IPE and that their experiences with IPECP
\nranged from clinical supervision to research. Regarding enablers of IPECP, they provided important input, which could facilitate IPECP in a university
\nfaculty. These included competencies for IPECP, professional development and a common practice framework.
\nCONCLUSION. The academics who attended the faculty development workshops were knowledgeable about the concepts of IPECP. They concluded that
\nfor IPE to be effective, a common practice framework should be adopted in the faculty to inform specific teaching and learning strategies and outcomes.

Patient safety concerns have risen to such levels that multiple organizations and initiatives have been created to reduce hospital readmissions and medication errors in the United States healthcare system. Interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) has become a center of focus in healthcare education and the competency-based programs help health providers function more effectively as a team, train new university and college healthcare students to become ready for collaborative practice, and assist in making new policies and practices to improve today's healthcare system. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of healthcare initiatives created to help lower hospital readmission rates and polypharmacy errors. These projects, programs, and initiatives optimize patient care while minimizing costs. With pharmacists, physicians, nurses, social workers, and other professionals and caregivers build better teams with improved communication and understanding each other's roles and responsibilities, the global healthcare system will overcome the numerous challenges.

The future of health professions education: Emerging trends in the United States.

We live in two inter-related worlds of interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) by simultaneously implementing and evaluating the University of Minnesota IPECP program, across...

Esta pesquisa objetivou avaliar a perspectiva dos estudantes da saúde sobre educação interprofissional em uma universidade pública do estado do Maranhão. Foi aplicado um questionário com variáveis sociodemográficas e de perfil dos acadêmicos e o instrumento RIPLS (Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale) adaptado, de forma online, com 254 acadêmicos dos cursos da saúde. Para a análise da diferença estatística significante foi calculado o teste t de Student e Anova para a diferença de médias e Qui-quadrado para a concordância das assertivas isoladamente, considerando o nível de significância de 5%, sendo analisado no programa Stata versão 14. Os resultados identificaram que há uma alta disponibilidade dos estudantes dos cursos da saúde para a aprendizagem interprofissional, sendo mais aceita nos períodos clínicos/fase intermediária dos cursos, onde se sugere que as práticas colaborativas serão mais exigidas. Destaca-se que a maioria dos pesquisados se encontram em Zona de Conforto em relação a Educação Interprofissional e Práticas Colaborativas no ambiente acadêmico. O estudo destaca que atividades extracurriculares são ferramentas indispensáveis no processo de ensino-aprendizagem da educação interprofissional e práticas colaborativas. Conclui-se a importância da criação e manutenção de ambientes que abordem a discussão dessa temática, para que a prática interprofissional colaborativa ocorra de forma abrangente entre todos os acadêmicos dos cursos da saúde.

Interprofessional education for collaborative patient-centered practice has been identified as a key mechanism to address health care needs and priorities. Faculty development can play a unique role in promoting interprofessional education (IPE) by addressing some of the barriers to teaching and learning that exist at both the individual and the organizational level, and by providing individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to design and facilitate IPE. This article highlights a number of approaches and strategies that can facilitate IPE. In particular, it is recommended that faculty development initiatives aim to bring about change at the individual and the organizational level; target diverse stakeholders; address three main content areas, notably interprofessional education and collaborative patient-centred practice, teaching and learning, and leadership and organizational change; take place in a variety of settings, using diverse formats and educational strategies; model the principles and premises of interprofessional education and collaborative practice; incorporate principles of effective educational design; and consider the adoption of a dissemination model to implementation. Clearly, faculty members play a critical role in the teaching and learning of IPE and they must be prepared to meet this challenge.

The need to address healthcare system quality and safety has been well documented for several years (1). The Institute of Medicine, in its 2003 report Health Professions Education: The Bridge to Quality (2) advocated the preparation of practitioners with knowledge and skills to deliver patient-centered care, apply quality-improvement, use information technology, employ evidence-based practice, and function as effective interprofessional team members. This preparation for interprofessional teamwork, now commonly referenced as “interprofessional education,” is rapidly expanding in significance and growth in the United States because of the increased recognition that significant improvement in the healthcare system remains important. The goal of interprofessional education is to prepare professionals who are ready to collaborate effectively with other health professions, patients, families, and communities to deliver the highest quality care; that is, interprofessional collaborative practice. Given the complexities of treatment and rehabilitation formentally ill patients, psychiatry should adopt interprofessional education and collaborative practice formedical students, residents, and practicing physicians, as well as learners of other professions.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP), and global educators collaborated to mitigate the impact. This report reflects the innovations of the global network InterprofessionalResearch.Global (IPR.Global), exploring adaptations and emerging practices in IPECP, and formation of the COVID-19 Taskforce. In response to widespread change and crisis in the pandemic, the Taskforce mobilized global collaboration by forming working groups which led to IPECP innovations through IPR.Global reports, publications, and knowledge forums. Tuckman’s theory of group formation is used to explore interprofessional group structures and to understand how network members adapted and collaborated effectively through stages of group development. By leveraging the strengths of IPR.Global, an established global network, adaptations could be made to sustain IPECP in the pandemic, sharing and exploring experiences of emerging best practice through collaborations, group working and knowledge mobilization. Whilst the pandemic impacted IPECP across the world, global networks and teams were key to developing, advancing, and sustaining interprofessional innovations. Through exploring the lessons learned, future collaborations can consider how to promote knowledge mobilization, and sustainability within the global community of practice and advance IPECP by considering team formation theory.

Interprofessional education allows students to collaborate with students and professionals of multiple disciplines. An Interdisciplinary Palliative Care (IPC) Seminar, held in the Midwest, involves students from disciplines of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work, and chaplaincy. The curriculum of the seminar incorporates asynchronous and synchronous didactic presentations, experiential learning through group exercises and discussion, along with home visits by students in interdisciplinary dyads. The purpose of this study was to determine whether students' participation in a 3-week IPC seminar would positively influence their socialization and value of interprofessional collaboration with the ultimate goal of developing skilled professionals who engage in interprofessional practice in hospice and palliative care settings. This descriptive study invited participants to take a pre- and postseminar online survey using the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale-21 (ISVS-21) to assess shifts in students' perceptions of interprofessional socialization and the value of collaborative health-care practice. In their pre-and postseminar scores, 71 participants reported they more strongly agreed with all items on the ISVS-21 after completing the seminar. The results from this study suggest the IPC Seminar is an effective educational model for advancing the value of interprofessional socialization and collaborative practice in hospice and palliative health-care.