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The interprofessional literature suggests that there is a lack of evidence of the effectiveness of interprofessional education (IPE) on patient outcomes and critiques the methodology used to determine the evidence. This paper describes and critiques a comprehensive evaluation of a practice-based IPE intervention. The evaluation was challenged by the complexity of the project such as having multiple sites with great variability in settings and participants which required a multifaceted evaluation approach.

This paper will highlight how a literature review and stakeholder-expert feedback guided the creation of an interprofessional facilitator-collaborator competency tool, which was then used to design an interprofessional facilitator development program for the Partners for Interprofessional Cancer Education (PICE) Project. Cancer Care Nova Scotia (CCNS), one of the PICE Project partners, uses an Interprofessional Core Curriculum (ICC) to provide continuing education workshops to community-based practitioners, who as a portion of their practice, care for patients experiencing cancer.

Most patients with leg- and foot ulcers are managed within non-institutional care. The aim of this study was to investigate the district nurses' wound management, including wound appearance, assignment of responsibility, guidelines for wound treatment and co-operation with other professional groups. The study has a descriptive quantitative approach. Data was collected using a wound registration form and a questionnaire. The selection of participants was made by random sampling.

BACKGROUND:

Quality and safety improvement programmes advance the standard of care delivered by health organisations but have been shown to be less effective than anticipated. Implementing improvement programmes require a greater understanding of the impact of the social context and strategies that engage staff.

OBJECTIVE:

To investigate factors that shaped the development of interprofessional improvement initiatives in a health organisation.

METHODS:

OBJECTIVES:

To report the extent to which the placement of paramedic practitioner students (PPSs) in accredited general practice (GP) training practices supported their development as autonomous, patient-centred practitioners and fostered interprofessional learning.

DESIGN:

A case study method was used. Sources of data included semi-structured telephone interviews (eight PPSs, eight GP trainers), an online end of placement survey and placement and assessment documentation. Interview data were transcribed and analysed using the constant comparative method.

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.

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

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

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

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.