Measuring interprofessional education and collaborative practice competencies: a content validity study of the Jefferson Teamwork Observation Guide®

ABSTRACT

Collaborative practice (CP) is integral in meeting the Quadruple Aim of healthcare, with effective team-based practice linked to improving all four components. Evidence of the validity of tools measuring collaborative practice competencies is lacking in educational and practice settings. The Jefferson Teamwork Observation Guide® (JTOG®), a real-time, 360-degree competency-based assessment tool administered via mobile app, provides formative feedback to learners in educational settings and helps practitioners develop and refine team-based behaviors in clinical settings. This study examines content validity evidence in terms of the linkage of JTOG items with the four Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) core competencies, along with two additional domains of leadership and patient-centeredness. Results provide content validity evidence to support use of the JTOG in interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) settings. The Teams and Teamwork competency was linked with every item, which is consistent with JTOG as a measure of teamwork. Aligning with the 2016 IPEC update, the JTOG items are all intercorrelated and together represent coverage across all competency areas. While items were typically linked to multiple competencies, each item only had one primary linkage. Analyses revealed that there is sufficient evidence of content validity relative to the intended IPCP competencies, and the JTOG tool is promising in its role to fill a gap in extant literature to measure collaborative practice behaviors.

KEYWORDS:

• Collaborative practice
• interprofessional teamwork
• interprofessional competency measurement
• workplace-based assessment
• team assessment

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Teresa Russell, Catherine Mills and participants of the JTOG linkage exercise for lending their time and expertise to this project. We are also indebted to our anonymous reviewers for their many helpful suggestions, particularly to add a validity framework to our JTOG work.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

“Measuring Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice Competencies: A Validity Study of the Jefferson Teamwork Observation Guide” study was determined to be exempt by The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Thomas Jefferson University; Control #19E.446.

Additional information

Funding

This work did not receive funding from any external sources.

Notes on contributors

Shoshana Sicks

Shoshana Sicks, EdD is Director of Curriculum and Administration at Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Elena Umland

Elena M. Umland, PharmD, FNAP is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Pharmacy in the Jefferson College of Pharmacy at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Amanda Koch

Amanda Koch, PhD is Senior Scientist at Human Resources Research Organization, Minneapolis, Minnesota. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1401-8298.

Richard W. Hass

Richard Hass, PhD is Director of Assessment, Evaluation and Research at Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education and Program Director, Population Health Science PhD, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Jasmine Tenpa

Jasmine Tenpa, MBBS, MPH is a Project Manager at Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.