The perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on interprofessional education and collaborative practice: preliminary results from phase I of a global survey

Figures & data

Table 1. Respondent’s role/interest in IPECP and its origins.

Respondents	Dean	Lead	Educator	Practitioner	Researcher	Student	Total
Region	n	n	n	n	n	n	n (%)
Africa		3	3	7	2	2	17 (22)
Asia		1	1	1			3 (4)
Australia		1	3				4 (5)
Europe	1	4	4	1	1	1	12 (15)
North America	2	3	2		3	1	11 (14)
South America	1	11	7	3		9	31 (40)
Total n (%)	4 (5)	23 (29)	20 (26)	12 (15)	6 (8)	13 (17)	78 (100)

Table 2. Emerging themes and subthemes.

Categories	Themes	Example quote
1) Online Transition of IPECP	a) Abrupt and forced shift to virtual learning and practice	This emergency measure of social distance demanded an immediate redirection of the work process of the IPE program, starting to adopt remote communication and working. [Leader, Asia]
	b) Limited resources for virtual education and practice	For larger IPE classroom-based sessions, we would have always broken into smaller groups for interactional activities. Very difficult to do this on-line so although IPE can occur through delivery of lectures, the level of organization required to also facilitate break-out groups within a lecture schedule would be prohibitive. [Educator, Europe]
	c) Challenges with technology	Mode in meetings have changed, and digital meetings are not always easy because of increased expenses and irregularities in electrical power. [Practitioner, South America]
	d) Digital healthcare literacy	It’s very challenging. There is a completely new format to learn and implement. It’s in the context of so much other change. [Educator, Europe]
2) Disruption to education and practice	a) Pause or cancelation of IPE activities	Due to the situation and lock down all normal educational activities have been set on hold for the time being. Because the whole country is under lockdown, students and staff were not on campus, therefore the planned activities had to be canceled. [Leader, Europe]
	b) Shifting roles and responsibilities	ICU nurses expanded responsibility to supervised non-ICU RNs and medical staff; challenges include: out of comfort zone, PPE hampers facial recognition, hierarchy issues with supervision. [Practitioner, Europe]
	c) Family and community care disrupted	From an inpatient perspective – there is no family visitation or carer training prior to discharge, due to the policy of the hospital groups we work with. This places the patients and families at risk. [Practitioner, Africa] My local experience is that community care has failed to collaboratively support people at home. Hospitals while working under strain and working interprofessionally will not meet community needs. [Leader, Europe]
3) Deprioritization of collaborative practice and learning	a) Collaborative practice hindered	Therapists, dietitians and other staff apart from nurses and doctors have been pulled out of communities, NGOs, clinics, schools, centers, etc, to work from home or offices to do COVID-19 case and contact tracing, so there is no teamwork happening in district healthcare in our area. [Leader, Africa] Difficulties working collaboratively in team-based care as all wearing PPE and hard to communicate sometimes. [Practitioner, Europe] Difficulty with continued ward rounds, due to physical distancing; difficulty with attending meetings as not all Allied Health staff have access to virtual meeting tools. [Practitioner, Africa]
	b) Loss of practice-based collaborative learning	There is currently no simulation or clinical placements. This is a huge concern because these are where students learn how to be collaborative. Policies related to pandemic planning are being developed as we progress through the pandemic. [Educator, North America]
	c) IPE not seen as a priority	IPE has not been at the top of anyone’s agenda because faculty are solely focused on transforming face-to-face classes to an online platform. As such, IPE has taken a “back seat.” [Educator, North America]
4) Rise in interprofessional spirit	a) Recognizing the importance of IPE	The opportunities to learn how other professions are trained and the skills and abilities that they develop during their professional training have provided a different perspective on teamwork, communication, different roles and responsibilities. [Student, South America]
	b) Innovations in collaborative learning	Our curriculum went online within 48 hours of university closures. Cohesiveness of the teaching team was the biggest standout and played a crucial part in looking after the wellbeing of isolated students, by use of electronic media, web-based video conferencing/chat groups. Team members adapted scenarios to enact online collaborative meeting spaces. [Educator, Australia] I have been able to connect to courses/seminars from presenters all over the world, something that would not have been arranged by various institutions had this pandemic not caused us to adapt our usual ways of holding seminars and courses in person. [Practitioner, Africa] Even though, face-to-face IPE is preferred, online IPE has many advantages. Online and digital resources might even overcome and improve shortcomings of IPE. An opportunity that should not be ignored. [Leader, Europe]
	c) Valuing interprofessional collaboration	The pandemic has shown how fundamental interprofessional collaboration is to achieving effective results. [Leader, Europe] Interprofessional work at this time, even from the distance, proved to be necessary for the population. [Practitioner, South America]
	d) Innovations in collaborative practice	The state expansion of telehealth providers to include rehabilitation professionals, although temporary for some professions. Changes to billing to allow payment for telehealth services. [Leader, North America] In the practice world, there was a lift on many regulations to allow effective patient care delivery. For example, as a pharmacist I was allowed to be in charge of dispensing proper meds without contacting the PCP if we can’t get any response. Patient care delivery was the main focus and certain regulations were lifted to be fully in charge and make the proper decision. [Practitioner, North America] We are introducing the concept of a virtual home visit by a team, communicating directly (via phone) with a client or working through a community health worker using WhatsApp. [Practitioner, Africa]
5) IPECP research and evaluation	a) Opportunities	It is necessary to reevaluate the ways and means through which interprofessional education works, both in professional training and in continuing education, to guarantee the effectiveness of the processes. [Educator, South America] Most IPE is just passing on information/discussion at this point. No formal training/evaluation as such. Further research needed on COVID-19. [Practitioner, Europe] New spaces and scenarios have emerged for the incorporation of the pandemic as an essential content for the debate on health care and interprofessional teams, and for the expansion and adoption of different types of care. We need to know how to conduct these processes in these new situations. [Lead, South America]
	b) Challenges	Inability to meet with the students is the major challenge. Coordinators need to re-strategize. Research could not be conducted in the clinical settings on IPE. [Researcher, Africa] Much research has been stalled because we cannot complete interviews easily with clinical colleagues who now have other priorities – similarly with our patients. [Leader, Europe]

Data availability statement

Data available on reasonable request to [email protected].