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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

Practice development (PD), as a framework for multiprofessional working, has immense potential, specifically within change management and the clinical governance agenda. It has been acknowledged as a vehicle for 'continuous improvement'. This article discusses PD through collaborative working using the example of a case study on change of practice in falls reduction within a localised community setting. The process is underpinned by a PD framework and facilitated by leaders of PD within a university setting.

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:

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:

It is widely assumed that interprofessional learning (IPL) impacts positively on interprofessional working (IPW) in health and social care. However, there is no clear evidence that pre-qualifying IPL improves service delivery. The direct effect of pre-qualifying IPL on IPW and service delivery is difficult to demonstrate; researchers must rely on professionals' self-report in this regard. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study in which semi-structured interviews were used to collect individuals' views and perceptions about pre-qualifying IPL as preparation for practice.

BACKGROUND: Although care pathways are often said to promote teamwork, high-level evidence that supports this statement is lacking. Furthermore, knowledge on conditions and facilitators for successful pathway implementation is scarce. The objective of the European Quality of Care Pathway (EQCP) study is therefore to study the impact of care pathways on interprofessional teamwork and to build up understanding on the implementation process.

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.