Sustainable interprofessional education programmes: What influences teachers to stay involved?

ABSTRACT

Delivery of interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives for pre-licensure students is increasingly the norm in health and social care training programmes. This collaborative form of education relies on teachers from various disciplines joining together to facilitate IPE. When IPE programmes first start, goodwill often prevails and facilitators are keen to take part. But as time goes on, retaining the IPE facilitator workforce is challenging. Research was undertaken to explore the experience of IPE facilitators who were part of a New Zealand university-based ten year old IPE programme. The research used a qualitative survey approach. Responses were received from 29% of all those invited to participate. Closed questions were collated and free-text survey responses analyzed using Template Analysis. Three themes and one integrative theme were identified. Themes include facilitators who are recognized, facilitators who are confident, and facilitators who are inspired. Themes were mediated by macro, meso and micro level forces. The cross-cutting integrative theme showed IPE facilitators experienced individual tipping points, with the potential to influence their continued involvement. These tipping points need to be recognized and addressed by those in senior level positions (macro-governance and meso-management), to ensure IPE facilitators continue and IPE programmes remain sustainable.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional education
• facilitators
• sustainable
• governance
• management

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the IPE teachers who took part in this survey. We also thank Ashley Symes, Angela Findlay & Amanda Garnett (Interprofessional Education Centre University of Otago) for their help in establishing the eligible survey participant list, supporting the distribution and clarifying details about the IPE programmes.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2022.2115470

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by The Interprofessional Education Centre, University of Otago Aotearoa New Zealand.

Notes on contributors

Louise Beckingsale

Louise Beckingsale is a Lecturer and leads the Interprofessional Education programme at University of Otago Christchurch. She is a Registered Dietitian.

Melanie Brown

Melanie Brown is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago Wellington.

Eileen McKinlay

Eileen McKinlay is an Associate Professor and Director of the Interprofessional Education Centre at the University of Otago. She is a Registered Nurse.

Marissa OLeary

Marissa OLeary is a Client Services Administrator with the Interprofessional Education Centre at the University of Otago.

Fiona Doolan-Noble

Fiona Doolan-Noble is a Senior Research Fellow with the Department of General Practice and Rural Health at the University of Otago Dunedin. She is a Registered Nurse by background.