Planning for Interprofessional Education opportunities
What will you find on this page? |
Within the workplace (themes for learning outcomes, case studies and for various practice contexts)
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Within the workplace
Quality care consists of meeting a client’s healthcare needs and goals. Rarely is there a clinical setting where only one health professional can meet all of the healthcare needs of a client. Mental health, rehabilitation, cancer care, aged care, private practice and chronic disease management are a few of the areas where healthcare providers require teamwork and collaboration to progress client care. Each of these environments could be utilised as an IPE forum. Everyday clinical activities provide a myriad of environments for IPE.
- In services
- team meetings
- ward rounds
- case conferences
- home visiting
- group programs
- initial assessments
- case screening
- written correspondence
- Teleconferencing
Interprofessional practice is integral for client care to be successfully achieved. Supervisors can facilitate students’ awareness of their own and others’ roles within these settings. The table below provides some themes for supervisors to consider when using IPE with students.
Themes for learning outcomes from interprofessional learning
Outcome/theme |
Sub-themes |
Teamwork |
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Roles/ responsibilities |
|
Communication |
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The patient |
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Ethics/attitudes |
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Examples of interprofessional education opportunities within the workplace
- Queensland Health - Capricornia Student Led Clinic: Conducted in Rockhampton, Central Queensland, this student led clinic addresses the needs of clients facing chronic disease. Students included Dietitians and Nutritionists, Occupational Therapists, Podiatrists, Exercise Physiology, Pharmacy and Social Work practitioners. A full evaluation of the clinic was completed and can be used as a basis for setting up clinics. They have also provided a toolkit for other clinical settings who may be considering starting a student-led clinic including recommendations and initial assessment and evaluation forms.
- UQ Health Care student assisted clinics: UQ Health Care run clinics in Ipswich, Meadowbrook and Woolloongabba and through a Health Workforce Australia Clinical Training Placement funded project have developed a range of student assisted programs. These programs include interprofessional screenings, assessment, and interventions focused on Aged and Chronic Disease – the ‘Your Life Your Health’ Program – and Child Wellbeing – the ‘Child Wellbeing’ program. An interprofessional education model is used to underpin the supervision provided to students while on placements.
- Mt Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health: Katherine Galligan and Sabina Knight present the Mt Isa Centre student led neurological rehabilitation program at the National Rural Health Conference. This program is predominantly physiotherapy and occupational therapy students undertaking hospital in-reach, centre based and outreach services.
- Student assisted clinics to support neurological rehabilitation in remote Queensland: This is a joint program between James Cook University, Mt Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health, Community Rehab Northern Queensland and Townsville Mackay Medicare Local and Central and North West Queensland Medicate Local providing community based rehabilitation services in the North West Queensland region for people with neurological and ageing conditions through a student led service. This example utilised services from Physiotherapy, Pharmacy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology.
- Monash Peninsula Health Increasing capacity through student led clinics
- Health Education and Training (HETI): have a series of resources and examples of Interprofessional Education in their 'Placement Models and Opportunities' section of their website.
IPE within Practice Contexts
For more information regarding interprofessional learning within the specific practice areas of Mental Health, Rural and Remote, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Aged Care, follow the relevant links below.
Simulated learning
Throughout University courses, students from many professions undertake simulated learning. Either with actors, each other, or pre-recorded scenarios, students are provided with the opportunity to experience a clinical case study in real time. Students must undertake an assessment, provide interventions and evaluate the outcomes with the ‘simulated’ client. Simulated learning provides a controlled environment for students to practise what they have been taught in the formal education setting, enhancing their skills prior to practicing in the workplace when on clinical placement.
Examples of IPE simulation learning
- IPE scenarios put together by Edith Cowan University including video clips, proposed learning format and competencies and a facilitator manual for each topic.
HealthFusion
HealthFusion Health care Team Challenge is an Australian program dedicated to encouraging greater collaboration between tomorrow’s health care professionals to ensure patients are provided with the best possible treatment and support (HealthFusion).
In each competition, teams are made up of outstanding students drawn from across the health sciences. Professions already involved include audiology, behavioural science, biomedical science, dietetics, dentistry, disability studies, exercise physiology, medicine, midwifery, nursing, occupational therapy, paramedic science, pharmacy, physiotherapy, psychology, social work and speech pathology. Students from other health professions are encouraged to become part of the HFTC.
Working together over several weeks, the teams must develop a management plan which reflects best practice for a ‘real’ client with complex needs (Health Fusion).
This is an excellent opportunity for students and many may have completed this prior to clinical placement with you or may be completing after placement.
References:
- About the Health Fusion Health Care Team Challenge, (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.healthfusionteamchallenge.com/
- Thistlethwaite, J. & Moran, M. (2010). Learning outcomes for interprofessional education (IPE): Literature review and synthesis. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 24 (5), 503–513. https://doi.org/10.3109/13561820.2010.483366