Is interprofessional education a valued contributor to interprofessional practice and collaboration within allied health in Australia and New Zealand: A scoping review

ABSTRACT

Research on the value of interprofessional education (IPE), collaboration and practice in the health sector at both a pre- and post-registration level has increased in recent years. A scoping review of Australian and New Zealand studies was conducted on the value of IPE to interprofessional practice in allied health professionals from 2013 to 2019. A scoping review framework was used to identify 109 studies. Twenty-one articles met the eligibility criteria. The studies were grouped into undergraduate students in academic and WIL settings, allied health professionals and clinical educators. Results suggest that IPE is necessary for the maintenance of interprofessional practice and that it is strongly connected to the development of successful communication within the interprofessional environment. Authentic IPE experience and socialization opportunities appear to be major facilitators of interprofessional practice but no consensus regarding the ideal length of time or timing of IPE was found. The studies also provided an insight into facilitators and barriers to successful implementation of IPE and interprofessional practice in rural environments. As IPE has been shown to contribute to improved interprofessional practice and patient outcomes, future research should explore how to create IPE opportunities for implementation within rural communities where adequate resourcing is most challenged.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional practice (IPP)
• interprofessional collaboration (IPC)
• Australia
• New Zealand
• value
• interprofessional education (IPE)

Declaration of interest

The author(s) report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).20132015

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tina L. Janes

Tina Janes is a senior lecturer in speech pathology at Central Queensland University. Tina has extensive experience in community based speech pathology services as well as cross cultural experience in both teaching and speech pathology. Tina’s PhD research is the role of speech pathologists in interprofessional mental health teams.

Jenni-Lee Rees

Ms Jenni-Lee Rees is a senior lecturer in Speech Pathology at Central Queensland University and Senior Speech Pathologist with Queensland Health. In both her academic and clinical roles she has been involved in interprofessional education and interprofessional practice collaborating across a broad range of health professions. She also worked for eight years in a student-led allied health clinic for people with complex healthcare needs and has seen firsthand the benefits of interprofessional education on interprofessional practice for students, team members and clients.

Barbra Zupan

Dr. Barbra Zupan is an Associate Professor in Speech Pathology at Central Queensland University. Her research focuses on perception and integration, of facial and vocal cues of emotion, and social cognition following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Dr. Zupan has contributed to the development of facial emotion recognition and emotional inferencing treatment programs for people with TBI as well as the development of an assessment tool for emotional inferencing.