Interprofessional service-learning: cutting teeth and learning to crawl

ABSTRACT

An interprofessional community-based service-learning initiative, supporting early childhood development in an impoverished community, was launched on a South African university’s rural training platform. The study aimed to determine how this learning experience influenced students’ interprofessional person-centered practice. An interpretative qualitative approach was followed. In-depth focus group discussions with dietetic (n = 15), medical (n = 24) and occupational therapy (n = 6) students were conducted before they left for a rural training site, directly afterward and again six months later. The findings indicated that most students had a limited experience of interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) beforehand. Afterward, those demonstrating developmental learning reported increased knowledge about their own roles, a deeper understanding of the roles of other professions and a realization of the importance of IPCP. Different reactions were related to students’ profession, attitude and insight, and other interprofessional experiences during the placement. Contact with service users in the community, additional interprofessional clinical activities and shared living spaces are likely to further enhance students’ competencies in IPCP. A lack of interprofessional role modeling in the academic hospital, where most students returned to, hindered them to continue following an interprofessional, person-centered approach. Longer, synchronized rotations on a decentralized platform may be beneficial to inculcate competencies related to IPCP.

KEYWORDS:

• Service-learning
• rural health
• interprofessional education
• community-based education

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Fund for Innovation in Learning and Teaching at Stellenbosch University. We also thank the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, for their support, as well as the Ukwanda Centre for Rural Health, and the Western Cape Government (Rural districts) and their staff for their willingness and enthusiasm to serve as interprofessional role models.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stefanus Snyman

Dr Stefanus Snyman (MB, Ch. B; M. Phil (HealthScEd); DOM) is an occupational medicine practitioner and health professions educationist. He is currently research associate at the Centre for Community Technologies at Nelson Mandela University (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) and project manager of the WHO-FIC Collaborating Centre for the Africa Region. He serves as facilitator of the African Interprofessional Education Network (AfrIPEN), is member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Interprofessional Care and of Interprofessional.Global’s Facilitation Team.

Hananja Donald

Hananja Donald (BSc Dietetics) is a dietitian and lecturer at the Ukwanda Centre for Rural Health, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She serves as a human nutrition and interprofessional education facilitator on the university’s distributive learning platform.