Utility of the Jefferson teamwork observation guide for measuring collaborative practice competencies virtually, in-person, and across health professions: A Rasch Analysis

ABSTRACT

Modern healthcare increasingly requires interprofessional teams to collaborate both in person and virtually to effectively achieve common goals. To prepare students for interprofessional collaborative practice (CP) universities need evaluation tools that can validly and reliably measure students’ CP competencies after online and in-person interprofessional education. The Jefferson Teamwork Observation Guide® (JTOG) is a 360-degree evaluation tool previously validated to measure nationally-defined CP competencies. The psychometrics of the Individual JTOG have been examined in a sample of interprofessional healthcare students after online interprofessional education. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Individual JTOG in 709 students after in-person interprofessional education using Rasch Modeling and compared results across collaborative settings and student professions. Results indicated that item and person statistics, unidimensionality, scaling performance, and local independence of the Individual JTOG were comparable between online and in-person samples, suggesting it is consistent in its measurement of CP competencies across collaborative settings. Psychometric properties were strong, but ceiling effects were present. Minor deviations were found in the Individual JTOG’s unidimensionality between professional groups. The Values and Ethics construct was more strongly separated from others for nursing than other health professions. Recommendations for future research and possible adaptations to the instrument are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Collaborative practice
• measurement
• reflection
• teaming

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Education for their participation in the study.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Christopher Keating

Dr. Christopher Keating is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Thomas Jefferson University. He is board-certified in orthopedics and Fellow in the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists. Dr. Keating is currently pursuing a PhD from Nova Southeastern University with a focus on the pain experience in individuals with lateral elbow tendinopathy. He is a new investigator with the aims of developing a sub-classification system to inform the loading program in those with lateral elbow tendinopathy.

Maria Brucato

Dr. Maria Brucato is the Director of Assessment, Evaluation, and Research at Jefferson Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education at Thomas Jefferson University. She received her BA in Psychology with Cognitive Science and Computer Science minors from Montclair State University, and her PhD in Psychology, Cognition and Neuroscience from Temple University with a concentration in Quantitative Methods. Her current work involves the application of psychometrics, cognitive science, and social psychology to interprofessional collaborative practice and education.

Richard W. Hass

Dr. Richard W. Hass is Associate Professor and Program Director for the PhD in Population Health Science and the Master’s in Health Data Science in the Jefferson College of Population Health. He completed his PhD in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences cluster of the psychology department at Temple University. His current work involves applications of psychometrics, cognitive science, and data science to a variety of topics in public and population health.