Interprofessional education for complex neurological cases

ABSTRACT

There is a growing necessity for healthcare professionals to collaborate across disciplines in order to adequately treat patients. Interprofessional education (IPE) is one strategy that can be used to strengthen student attitudes, skill mastery, and preparedness toward working in interprofessional teams prior to joining the healthcare workforce. The current study evaluated the effects of a four-session IPE training program for students from four New England universities across nine different health professions. Participants (N = 46) were placed into teams to create an assessment plan, evaluated their patient volunteer, developed a treatment plan, and presented treatment plan decisions to the group. Students reported attitudes, skills and readiness to work on interprofessional teams before and after the training; additionally, students completed a free-response posttest questionnaire. Paired samples t-tests, repeated measures ANCOVA, and thematic analysis were conducted to analyze the data. Results showed that following program completion, participants expressed more positive attitudes toward team collaboration and demonstrated higher skill mastery to function within healthcare teams. The presence of prior IPE experience did not positively or negatively influence changes in attitudes, skills, or readiness from pretest to posttest. Results suggest that this IPE program demonstrated preliminary feasibility and effectiveness by actively improving the attitudes and skills of healthcare students to engage in interprofessional teamwork.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional education
• evaluation research
• health and social care
• teamwork
• neurological disorders
• interprofessional collaboration

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the following individuals who were integral to the successful completion of the IPE for Complex Neurological Cases program: Mary Cloud, Elizabeth Connors, Erica Estus, Geoffrey Greene, Rebecca Simon, and Rachel-Ann Smith.

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

Natalie Fenn

Natalie Fenn, MA, is a Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate at the University of Rhode Island. She researches interprofessional teamwork, health promotion and prevention efforts to improve clinical outcomes among at-risk populations.

Zoe Mushkat

Zoe Mushkat, MA, is a Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate at the University of Rhode Island. Her research is in health promotion, medical decision-making, and interprofessional education.

Alexandra N. Murray

Alexandra N. Murray, PhD, is a Clinical Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC. As part of an interdisciplinary team, she provides psychological services for veterans in behavioral sleep medicine, oncology, palliative and Hospice care settings.

Kim Dimalanta

Kim Dimalanta is a Doctor of Physical Therapy graduate student at the University of Rhode Island. She conducts programming and research in interprofessional education for pre-professional healthcare providers.

Michael Vandiver

Michael Vandiver, BS, is a Research Assistant for the Health Behavior Change Lab at the University of Rhode Island. He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology and Biological Science.

Mark L. Robbins

Mark L. Robbins, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department at the University of Rhode Island. He works in applied health behavior change research utilizing the transtheoretical model as a framework in areas such as organ donation and increasing physical activity.

Janice Hulme

Janice Hulme, PT, DHSc, is a Clinical Professor at the University of Rhode Island where she facilitates interprofessional education program development and management. In 2018, she was awarded the Professional Service Award by the RI Pharmacists Association for her sustained contributions to the pharmacy profession.

Anne-Marie Dupre

Anne-Marie Dupre MS, DPT, is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Rhode Island. Her area of expertise is in neurological physical therapy. She is a Board-Certified Specialist in Neurology from the APTA and continues to practice in the clinic.