The National Center recently unveiled Amina in the Nexus, a collection of free, online resources to help our partners explore the concept of the “Nexus,” by sharing the vision of interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) more broadly.

The resources focus on Amina, a mother and Somali immigrant with diabetes, who is part of a new model of care – one that includes her community, a team of practitioners, faculty and students working and learning together to keep her healthy.

“The Nexus, the aligning interprofessional education and practice – particularly in health care environments that are redesigning clinical practice – is an aspirational vision,” said Barbara Brandt, PhD, director, National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. “Using the shared experience of health care, Amina’s story is a gateway to have conversations about developing and strengthening partnerships between health care delivery and education systems.”

Bringing Amina to life

What started as a case example of the Nexus in a commissioned Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation paper, which was then adapted for a Journal of Interprofessional Care article by Drs. Mark Earnest and Barbara Brandt, Amina’s story imagines how high-functioning interprofessional learning teams can help achieve the Triple Aim of enhancing the patient experience, improving population health and reducing cost.

Over the past year, National Center staff and partners have shared Amina’s story in a variety of practice and education settings, gathering feedback that informed the video and supporting resources. From classrooms to conferences, early users of Amina in the Nexus said it offers a platform for discussion about the Nexus and IPECP.

“The narrative and context the video provides is a much more concrete place to start than reading about IPECP or just describing it,” said Andrea Pfeifle, EdD, PT, FNAP, assistant dean and director, Indiana University Center for Interprofessional Health Education and Practice. She recently used the Amina video with second-year medical students and faculty. “It was a great jumping off point for some rich discussion about interprofessional care models, integration of technology and future practice trends.”

Rosemary Brander, PhD, PT, director, Office of Interprofessional Education & Practice at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, shared the Amina story with 440 first-year students from medicine, nursing, occupational therapy and physical therapy.

“The response generated animated and provocative discussions about the best ways to communicate with patients, issues around texting and privacy and considerations for work-life balance,” she said. “All are excellent topics for future interprofessional team discussions.”

Sharing her story

Amina in the Nexus resources – including the video in two web-based formats, an interactive module, resource and facilitation guide and ready-to-use PowerPoint presentations – are available at nexusipe.org/amina.

All National Center partners are invited to use the Amina in the Nexus resources. However, for ongoing quality improvement, the National Center encourages individuals to fill out an evaluation survey and share their experiences in the National Center Forum.