RESUMEN
Interprofessional practice and education (IPE) is incorporated into pre-licensure healthcare programs to prepare students for collaboration in clinical practice and to improve patient outcomes. The use of interprofessional simulation as a teaching strategy is increasing, but most literature involves medical and nursing students, and outcomes measure students' knowledge, perceptions, or attitudes. The purpose of this study was to compare allied health students' self-assessment of their team's interprofessional collaborative care (IPCC) skills and behaviors with an independent observer's perception during an interprofessional simulation discharge planning event with standardized patients. Students (n = 177) were recruited from the Departments of Occupational Therapy (OT), Physical Therapy (PT), and Physician Assistant Studies (PA). Students reflected on their team's performance, and an independent observer assessed each team's IPCC skills and behaviors with a valid and reliable tool developed from the IPEC Core Competencies. The results showed that students' assessments of their teams' IPCC were significantly greater than the independent observer's ratings. Additionally, the observer found that the students demonstrated higher levels of interprofessional collaboration during a team huddle without a standardized patient present. This study suggests that IPE program evaluation should include observations of interprofessional skills and behaviors and that students involved in interprofessional simulation may benefit from a team huddle prior to team interactions with a standardized patient.
Asunto(s)
Educación Interprofesional , Percepción , HumanosRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Interprofessional education of healthcare providers is necessary to foster collaborative practice and improve patient outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effectiveness of the single-session interprofessional education in improving interprofessional attitudes, increasing knowledge of healthcare professions, and improving perceived-readiness for working interprofessionally and with older adults in students in occupational therapy, physical therapy, and physician assistant graduate programs. METHODS: We used a prospective, pre-post cohort design. Fall risk evaluation for older adults was selected as the topic of the 4-hour interprofessional education session. Graduate students from three professional programs including occupational therapy (n=20), physical therapy (n=26), and physician assistant studies (n=35) participated in the study, and 17 older adults aged 65 years or older volunteered for the session. Our primary outcome measure was the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale measuring interprofessional attitudes, and our secondary outcome measure was the study-specific questionnaire measuring the direct effect of our interprofessional education session. RESULTS: Graduate students showed significant improvements in the subscale of teamwork, roles, and responsibilities in the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale. Students also showed significant improvements in "understanding of other professions," "perceived-readiness to work interprofessionally," and "perceived-readiness to work with older adults" in the study-specific questionnaire. Ceiling effects were observed in most of the subscales in the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that a single 4-hour interprofessional education session can improve interprofessional attitudes, knowledge of other professions, and perceived-readiness of health science graduate students to work interprofessionally and to work with older adults.