Interprofessional collaboration among sport science and sports medicine professionals: an international cross-sectional survey

ABSTRACT

As in other areas of healthcare, the quality of patient care in the field of sport science and sports medicine (SSSM) could benefit from interprofessional collaboration between the professions involved. As a prerequisite, healthcare providers in the SSSM field should be equipped with positive attitudes and perceptions toward interprofessional collaboration (IPC) and interprofessional education (IPE), however detailed investigations are lacking. This study aimed to collect and compare socio-demographic data as well as interprofessional attitudes of SSSM professionals from an international perspective. Subjects were invited via professional SSSM organizations, personal networks and social media to participate in a cross-sectional online survey. Three-hundred and twenty complete datasets of SSSM professionals from the regions USA (n = 83), Canada (n = 179) and Europe (n = 58) were evaluated. In this survey, socio-demographic data as well as attitudes toward IPC and IPE using the 4 subscales of the University of West of England interprofessional Questionnaire (UWE-IP) were collected and analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. In the socio-demographic data, there was a diversity of participants representing different regional healthcare, sports and educational framing conditions. On average, in all regions clear positive attitudes were shown in the UWE-IP subscales communication & teamwork, interprofessional learning and interprofessional relationship, whereas in the subscale interprofessional interaction negative perceptions were observed on average across all regions. Significant effects of participants’ demographic variables region, age and gender on some of the subscales were detected. Practitioners in the SSSM field have a high willingness and a beneficial preparedness for IPC and IPE, however, the framing conditions and the systems the respondents surveyed are working in do not support IPC. Interprofessional settings in learning and in workplace (e.g., theme-centred workshops, patient-centred case studies, health promotion activities) may help to improve interprofessional interactions in SSSM.

KEYWORDS:

• Survey
• athletic trainer
• quantitative
• collaborative practice
• stereotypes
• interprofessional learning

Declaration of interest

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

G Ulrich

G Ulrich is a researcher at the Careum Foundation (Department of Education Management, Zurich, Switzerland) in the field of interprofessional collaboration/education and is the project manager of the “Zurich Interprofessional Training Ward”.

AP Breitbach

AP Breitbach is a tenured Professor at Saint Louis University. He serves as Interim Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics and is also the Director of the Athletic Training Program.