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Interprofessional practice (IP)--ie, collaborative practice--involves interaction and knowledge-sharing between professionals from different disciplines in order to meet the needs of the patient. This approach to care is well suited to patients with pressure ulcers, whose complex and varying presentations require the monitoring and consultation of an IP team. A 44-year-old man with anoxic brain injury was admitted to a complex continuing care facility with 18 wounds, 17 of which were pressure ulcers.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the process used to initiate research capacity building in a community of practice (CoP) focused on the research and evaluation of inter-professional education and collaboration. This CoP, composed of members from across Canada, is a committee of the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative (CIHC), a national collaborative that aims to advance inter-professional education and collaboration in healthcare. The committee mapped recommendations that emerged from a number of CIHC reports onto a research capacity building framework.

PubMed URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20860594

OBJECTIVE:

This article discusses the strategies and challenges of implementing interprofessional education interventions with students from different disciplines. It reviews two models of interprofessional education in academic prelicensure curricula including the extra-curricular and the crossbar models by considering ease of implementation, program reach and sustainability. It also introduces the interprofessional enhancement approach as an additional curriculum development strategy.

RESULTS:

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

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:

PURPOSE:

Despite the importance of leadership in interprofessional health care teams, little is understood about how it is enacted. The literature emphasizes a collaborative approach of shared leadership, but this may be challenging for clinicians working within the traditionally hierarchical health care system.

METHOD:

BACKGROUND:

We evaluated the retention of trauma knowledge and skills after an interprofessional Trauma Team Training (TTT) course in Guyana and explored the course impact on participants.

METHODS:

A mixed-methods design evaluated knowledge using a multiple-choice quiz test, skills and trauma moulage simulation with checklists, and course impact with qualitative interviews. Participants were evaluated at 3 time points; before, after, and 4 months after TTT.

RESULTS:

Researchers, hospital administrators and governments are striving to define competencies in interprofessional care and education, as well as to identify effective models in chronic disease management. For more than 25 years The Arthritis Program (TAP) at Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ontario, has actively practiced within these two interrelated priorities, which are now at the top of the healthcare agenda in Ontario and Canada.