What matters in low-threshold collaboration? Perceptions of interprofessional collaboration between education and social and healthcare professionals in Finnish primary schools.

This study examined the factors linked to low-threshold interprofessional collaboration in the context of Finnish primary schools. The main purpose of the study was to analyze how education and health and social care professionals perceived their mutual collaboration. The PINCOM-Q scale was used to identify factors related to interprofessional collaboration in professionals' work settings. The results indicate that individual factors such as work motivation and personal power are prominent in low-threshold collaboration. At the group level, communication has an important role to play in interprofessional collaboration. Professionals (n = 204) perceived mutual exchange of information as an important aspect of working together. The aspects that matter in the low-threshold mode of interprofessional collaboration are a complex combination of individual, group and less obvious organizational factors, all of which both reflect and are reflected in an individual's motivation and commitment to cooperation. The establishment of long-term and systematic low-threshold, interprofessional collaboration presupposes that individual interests are realized in good interaction in equal encounters between different organizational domains.

Interprofessional learning in social and health care-Learning experiences from large-group simulation in Finland.

Aim: This study aimed to describe the learning experiences of social and healthcare students and professionals of an interprofessional large-group simulation. A simulation on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) was organized in collaboration between a Finnish university, university hospital and university of applied sciences. Design: A case study. Methods: The research data were collected at the large-group simulation with a questionnaire containing variables on a five-point Likert scale and open questions. The questionnaire was filled out by 350 students and professionals participating in the simulation. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistical methods and the open-ended questions by inductive content analysis. Results: The large-group simulation proved to be a valid teaching and learning method for collaborating with other professionals and interacting with clients and the method can be considered as cost-effective compared with small-group simulations. The produced knowledge can be used in planning simulations in basic and in-service training.