Interprofessional Collaborative Care: An Evidence-Based Approach to Healthcare Education

Introduction: Healthcare education has traditionally occurred within the confines of each discipline’s instructional program, limiting students’ knowledge of other disciplines and potentially impacting communication with the healthcare team, quality of care delivery, and patient outcomes (D’Amour & Oandasan, 2005; Interprofessional Education Collaborative Expert Panel [IPEC], 2011). The World Health Organization (2010) defines interprofessional education (IPE) as “students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes” and advocates for its use with global health perspectives to influence health policy (p. 7). Although the concept of IPE is not new, many healthcare education programs encounter challenges with its implementation due to funding, scheduling concerns, sustainability, as well as faculty and student buy-in (Hinderer & Joyner, 2014; Sandhu, Robert Hosang, & Madsen, 2015). From a healthcare education perspective, many accrediting bodies now require IPE within their accreditation standards as interprofessional education and collaboration are best practices for achieving safe, high quality patient-centered care (Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, 2013; Berman, 2013; Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, 2015; Higher Learning Commission [HLC], 2015; IPEC, 2011). IPE has been successfully implemented within higher education (Sanborn, 2016); however, most efforts have been limited to a classroom or a healthcare program. Inclusion of IPE within and among all programs at healthcare colleges or universities is highly recommended during pre-professional training as opposed to workplace training (Hinder & Joyner, 2014). Purpose of the project: The purpose of this project was to introduce IPE at a small Midwestern, private healthcare college and evaluate students’ interprofessional collaborative competency after completing an online course, participating in IPE events, and completing reflective journals relating to the IPEC (2016) core competencies. Description of the process: An interprofessional group of college faculty and instructional design experts, collectively known as IPE Champions, performed an extensive review of the literature regarding interprofessional education and collaboration as part of a year-long task force in 2016 which examined effective teaching-learning strategies for higher education. HLC Criterion 3B “The institution demonstrates that the exercise of intellectual inquiry and the acquisition, application, and integration of broad learning and skills are integral to its educational programs” was used to guide the process (HLC, 2015, p. 10). The campus community completed a SurveyMonkey® questionnaire that asked participants to indicate their understanding of IPE, awareness of campus IPE activities, areas of interest in IPE offerings, and willingness to engage in IPE activities, either as a participant or an event organizer. Survey results indicated that a small percentage of participants felt confident in their understanding of IPE, but the majority of participants expressed interest in pursuing IPE as part of their academic healthcare studies. After achieving faculty, student, and college administration buy-in for implementation of a formalized IPE program on campus, the IPE champions created an introductory course entitled “IPE 301: Interprofessional Education.” The course was designed as a pass/no pass, zero credit hour course required for all incoming students from all program levels and fields of discipline beginning in the Fall 2018 semester. The course consisted of recorded lecture videos, reading assignments, YouTube and interactive videos, open-book quizzes, as well as a pre-, mid- and post-assessment using the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Scale (Revised) ([ICCAS], (MacDonald et al., 2010). The ICCAS is a 20-question item assessment where participants rate their abilities relating to effective communication, providing constructive feedback, working in a team, resolving conflicts, and negotiating responsibilities when working with care providers with overlapping scopes of practice (MacDonald et al., 2010). The first four online course modules related to the four IPEC core competencies, respectively, and were to be completed within the first semester of health care education. The fifth module, entitled “My IPE,” required students to attend and participate in a minimum of three interprofessional activities either on campus or within the community that met the IPE activity rubric requirements established by the IPE Champion group. The interprofessional activities could be completed at any time after finishing the first four modules and up until graduation. Examples of IPE activities included: projects from designated service courses, Academic Travel Abroad, programs from the campus-wide Student Support Team and Diversity Council, clinical simulation, and collaborative events with community partners. A pilot group of 17 faculty and staff reviewed the IPE course and provided feedback for changes, focusing on strategies to assist students who were taking college level courses for the first time. Participants: Participants in IPE 301 Fall cohort included traditional and non-traditional college students from the undergraduate and graduate level programs for both on campus and online student groups. Approximately 250 students were enrolled in the first cohort group. Conclusions: The collaborative nature of IPE has implications to address the “global health workforce crisis” by influencing local public health policy and ultimately strengthening healthcare systems and influencing public policy throughout the world (WHO, 2010, p. 7). Additionally, improved health care collaboration supports the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s vision of improving patient experiences and population health, reducing costs, and as well improving work experiences of health care providers around the world (Bodenheimer & Sinsky, 2014). The IPE Champions intend to conduct a retrospective, descriptive research study on the impact of the IPE 301 didactic and clinical applications pending Institutional Review Board approval.