Resource Center

OBJECTIVE:

To integrate fourth-year doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students within a level II trauma center team to improve their patient care and professional communication skills.

DESIGN:

The authors designed a participatory qualitative research study to develop a collaborative partnership between palliative care practitioners in Canada and in Chile. The research goal was to support the provision of palliative care in vulnerable settings through a participatory knowledge exchange process using qualitative and participatory methodologies. The study involved an interprofessional palliative care team from a primary health care centre in Chile and 5 adults receiving palliative care and their relatives.

In the future, an increased number of the elderly with their vulnerability related to aging will demand more multidisciplinary and innovative approaches toward their care. A course called "Care of the Elderly from a European Perspective" has been developed in collaboration among several European universities with the aim of providing an opportunity for students to increase their mutual understanding of elder care. The course is based on phenomenographic research and collaborative learning as a pedagogical approach.

BACKGROUND:

Evidence indicates that professional development focused on collaborative practice can improve the quality of care and patient outcomes in specific populations. However, current educational knowledge does not include how to teach professionals to provide interprofessional collaborative care.

METHODS:

PubMed URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22276581

INTRODUCTION:

Cardiac surgery demands effective teamwork for safe, high-quality care. The objective of this pilot study was to develop a comprehensive program to sharpen performance of experienced cardiac surgical teams in acute crisis management.

METHODS:

Healthy Ager, an interprofessional service-learning clinical experience for health professions students, is a semester-long program of wellness and falls prevention for community-dwelling older adults. It provides a foundation for competency in geriatrics for students in nursing, physical therapy, social work, and communications disorders. Such interprofessional education is recommended by the Institute of Medicine.

PubMed URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22860478

PROBLEM ADDRESSED:

Family physicians provide most of the care for the frail elderly population, but many challenges and barriers can lead to difficulties with fragmented, ineffective, and inefficient services.

OBJECTIVE OF PROGRAM:

To improve the quality, efficiency, and coordination of care for the frail elderly living in the community and to enhance geriatric and interprofessional skills for providers and learners.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

Although there are many examples of interprofessional education activities that focus on quality and safety, few include longitudinal experiences of teams working together over time. One exception is the Veterans Affairs Quality Scholars (VAQS) fellowship program. This article describes the integration of interprofessional education into the VAQS fellowship program, offers 2 examples of interprofessional projects conducted by the fellows, and discusses the VAQS program as a model for others to consider in developing interprofessional training programs in safety and quality improvement.

BACKGROUND:

Traditional approaches to curriculum delivery are primarily devoted to producing graduates who are proficient in their professional domain, leaving little time for interaction between disciplines. Rural doctors need to work closely with other health workers in the context of life in smaller communities.

CONTEXT: