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Background

Extended hospital stays and complications are common among older adults and may lead to morbidity and loss of independence. Specialized geriatric units have been shown to improve outcomes; but, with the growing numbers of older adults, may be difficult to scale to meet needs.

Purpose

The literature on interprofessional education (IPE) in allied health has historically been atheoretical and dominated by interventionist approaches using survey-based methods. Little is known about the social and contextual factors underpinning university-based interprofessional socialisation across allied health degrees. Using Holland et al.’s theory of ‘identities as practice’ and in-depth interview data from 19 students, we analyse first year Australian allied health students’ experiences of university-based IPE.

This article presents the design and evaluation of an interprofessional multiple-patient simulation between nursing and graduate dietetic students. Dietetic students' completed surveys were observed, scored, and debriefed during 3 patient simulations, and submitted plans of care. Fifteen of the 16 students agreed that the simulation enhanced interprofessional communication skills. Plans of care improved after debriefings, and 37 of the 39 nursing students who completed the simulation with dietetic students said the experience helped them learn the dietitian's role.

Achieving safe, quality health care is highly dependent on effective communication between all members of the healthcare team. This study explored the attitudes and experiences of recent healthcare graduates regarding interprofessional teamwork and communication within a clinical setting. A total of 68 pharmacy, nursing, and medicine graduates participated in 12 semi-structured focus group discussions in clinical workplaces across three Australian states.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) conducts the largest education and training effort for healthcare professionals in the nation. The integrated, multidisciplinary training environment provides an ideal forum for interprofessional education (IPE) to occur. In this paper, IPE in the Optometric Residency in Primary Eye Care and Ocular Disease at VA Maine is described. Elements for effective IPE, barriers to program success and areas for growth are discussed.

Objective. To describe a successfully sustained interprofessional introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) in which third-year pharmacy students were paired with nonpharmacist practitioners.

Methods. Course data were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed to reveal details about the program. Provider participant numbers and student perception data were reviewed and reported on.

Objective

Examine outcomes for the National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) Allied Team Training for Parkinson (ATTP), an interprofessional education (IPE) program in Parkinson's disease (PD) and team-based care for medicine, nursing, occupational, physical and music therapies, physician assistant, social work and speech-language pathology disciplines.

Background

Healthcare professionals need education in evidence-based PD practices and working effectively in teams. Few evidence-based models of IPE in PD exist.

Methods

Previous studies have demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of physician–pharmacist collaborations to improve hypertension control. However, most studies have limited generalizability, lacking minority and low-income populations. The Collaboration Among Pharmacist and Physicians to Improve Blood Pressure Now (CAPTION) trial randomized 625 patients from 32 medical offices in 15 states. Each office had an existing clinical pharmacist on staff. Pharmacists in intervention offices communicated with patients and made recommendations to physicians about changes in therapy.

This article utilizes one counselor education program’s experience as a framework for exploring how to prepare counselors to work in interdisciplinary teams. Based on an interdisciplinary training program that involves faculty and graduate students from counseling, social work, nursing, internal medicine and family medicine, the article explores the role discipline-specific orientations play in the outcome of interdisciplinary training programs.

The recent growth of interprofessional education (IPE) in healthcare has been accompanied by exploration of teaching strategies to improve its effectiveness. Experts in IPE advise faculty to explore teaching models from other disciplines outside of healthcare. Studio-based learning (SBL) in design education embodies many of the features that are integral to effective IPE. Students work in teams to design new processes and products to solve complex and real-life problems.