Resource Center

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether a peer-to-peer education program was an expedient and effective approach to improve knowledge and promote interprofessional communication and collaboration.

DESIGN: Trained pharmacy students taught nursing students, medical students, and medical residents about the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit (Part D), in 1- to 2-hour lectures.

Nationally and internationally, the terms “interprofessional learning” (IPL) and “collaborative working” are prominent in health care politics (General Medical Council, 2002; World Health Organization, 1988).

BACKGROUND: Existing validated measures of pharmacist-physician collaboration focus on measuring attitudes toward collaboration and do not measure frequency of collaborative interactions.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate an instrument to measure the frequency of collaboration between pharmacists and general practitioners (GPs) from the pharmacist's perspective.

The purpose of this study was to compare which learning outcomes relating to an Interprofessional Training Unit (ITU) experience were found to be most important by students and by alumni. A cohort of 428 students in the ITU was asked to write three short statements describing the most important learning outcomes from the ITU. Alumni from the same cohort were after graduation asked the same question. Furthermore, they were asked to fill out a 12-item questionnaire. The statements concerning learning outcome were analysed qualitatively and categorized.

OBJECTIVES: Evidence suggests that doctors and nurses do not always work collaboratively in health care settings and that this contributes to suboptimal patient care. However, there is little information on interprofessional collaboration (IPC) among new medical and nursing graduates working together for the first time in a multidisciplinary health care team. Our aim was to understand the nature of the interactions, activities and issues affecting these new graduates in order to inform interventions to improve IPC in this context.

BACKGROUND: Effective interprofessional teamwork is an essential component for the delivery of high-quality patient care in an increasingly complex medical environment. The objective is to evaluate whether the implementation of care pathways (CPs) improves teamwork in an acute hospital setting.

The importance and necessity of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) present challenges for educators as they determine how best to achieve IPC through interprofessional education (IPE). Simulation-based teaching has been shown to enhance students' understanding of professional roles and promote positive attitudes toward team members; yet, empirical evidence providing direction on the conditions necessary to promote these positive outcomes is lacking.

This study aims to evaluate the effect of the intensity of interprofessional collaboration on hospitalized cancer patients. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 312 patients to examine the effects of intensity of interprofessional collaboration (low vs high intensity collaboration) on patient satisfaction, uncertainty, pain management, and length of stay. Data on the intensity of interprofessional collaboration, patient satisfaction, and uncertainty were collected from professionals and patients using valid and reliable instruments.

BACKGROUND: Nearly all health professional students and prescribers, regardless of specialty, will care for older adults who are enrolled in or eligible for the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit. Given the growing numbers of older adults, the increased burden of chronic disease, and the escalating costs of health care, health professional students and prescribers across disciplines should learn strategies to promote cost-effective prescribing and collaborate with pharmacists who are experts in medication use and costs.

There is a widening gap between the health care needs of older persons and the treatment skills of the health care professionals who serve them. This gap is especially severe in rural areas, where there is a shortage of and inadequate collaboration between health care professionals and poor access to services for older persons.