Effects of Home-Based Care Inter-Professional Education on Students' Outcomes: Mahasarakham University Experiences

Describing the evidence linking interprofessional education interventions to improving the delivery of safe and effective patient care: a scoping review

Empirical evidence indicates that collaborative interprofessional practice leads to positive health outcomes. Further, there is an abundance of evidence examining student and/or faculty perceptions of learning or satisfaction about the interprofessional education (IPE) learning experience. However, there is a dearth of research linking IPE interventions to patient outcomes. The objective of this scoping review was to describe and summarize the evidence linking IPE interventions to the delivery of effective patient care. A three-step search strategy was utilized for this review with articles that met the following criteria: publications dated 2015-2020 using qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods; the inclusion of healthcare professionals, students, or practitioners who had experienced IPE or training that included at least two collaborators within coursework or other professional education; and at least one of ten Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services quality measures (length of stay, medication errors, medical errors, patient satisfaction scores, medication adherence, patient and caregiver education, hospice usage, mortality, infection rates, and readmission rates). Overall, n=94 articles were identified, providing overwhelming evidence supporting a positive relationship between IPE interventions and several key quality health measures including length of stay, medical errors, patient satisfaction, patient or caregiver education, and mortality. Findings from this scoping review suggest a critical need for the development, implementation, and evaluation of IPE interventions to improve patient outcomes.

Behavioural outcomes of interprofessional education within clinical settings for health professional students: A systematic literature review

Interprofessional education facilitates collaborative practice, which promotes high-quality patient care and patient safety. Interprofessional education (IPE) experiences within clinical settings provide an opportunity for the development of interprofessional collaborative practice competence. The aim of this systematic review was to review the literature evaluating interprofessional education for health professional students within clinical settings and summarize the behavioral outcomes. Databases searched were PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Taylor & Francis Online, ERIC and PsycINFO. Full-text articles were independently screened by two reviewers and included if agreed. Outcomes were analyzed using Kirkpatrick's model modified for IPE. Studies with behavioral change outcomes were analyzed and synthesized using narrative methods. Included studies provided evidence that IPE experiences in clinical settings can enable students to develop and integrate interprofessional collaborative practice competencies, across diverse types of settings. Key tasks enabling students to achieve these learning outcomes included synchronous patient consultations, collaborative development of integrative health-care plans outside of patient consultations, and participation in socialization with health-care teams. There were limitations in the methodological design of the included studies, with limited use of comparator groups and validated tools, high usage of self-report data and serious risk of bias identified across all quantitative included studies. In conclusion, high-quality research designed to measure the construct of behavioral change is lacking. Such research could further investigate the key tasks in IPE experiences in clinical settings that are necessary for students to develop the range of required collaborative practice competencies and integrate these. This could provide clarification regarding if and how this could be achieved across different types of clinical placements.

Medical Students' Perception of Interprofessional Education: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background and objective Interprofessional education (IPE) involves learners from multiple health professions learning collaboratively to improve patient care. This study assessed medical students' perceptions of IPE at Taibah University in Saudi Arabia. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 319 medical students in years two to six of graduate medical school and internships completed the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) questionnaire between April 2022 and July 2022. RIPLS consists of 19 items measuring teamwork/collaboration, negative/positive professional identity, and roles/responsibilities. Comparisons were made based on gender and academic level by using the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results Students generally expressed positive attitudes towards IPE. The majority agreed that IPE improves teamwork, communication, and patient care. In our cohort, 148 students (46.4%) strongly agreed and 140 (43.9%) agreed that shared learning enhances understanding of clinical problems. However, 186 students (60%) disagreed that clinical problem-solving is profession-specific. On the teamwork/collaboration subscale, 279 students (87.7%) strongly agreed that learning with others makes them more effective team members. Regarding negative identity, 186 students (58.3%) disagreed that learning with other students wastes time. By gender, males had lower ranks for negative identity (p=0.03) and positive identity (p=0.03) versus females. As for academic level, clinical students and interns had higher and lower ranks, respectively, for negative identity (p<0.01). Conclusion Based on our findings, medical students generally hold favorable views toward IPE and recognize its benefits for collaboration, communication, and patient care. Incorporating IPE throughout medical training may further improve attitudes and interprofessional skills.

What should be measured? Nursing education institutions performance: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVES

In this qualitative study, we specify important domains of a nursing education institution that need to be measured to represent its performance via students' perspectives, one of the most important stakeholders in higher education.

SETTING

This study was conducted in a nursing and midwifery faculty.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. students in nursing. Convenience sampling was used. The aim and methods of the study were explained to the students, and they were invited to participate in the focus groups. Four focus groups (n=27) were held.

RESULTS

Thirteen categories emerged that were assigned to three components of the Donabedian model. The structure component contained three categories: learning fields, equipment and facilities and human resources standards. The process component contained five categories: workshops for students and staff, student familiarity with the institution's rules and plans, teaching, students evaluation and evaluation of teaching staff by students and peers. And outcome components contained five categories: results of self-evaluation by students, graduates' outcomes, students' outcomes, students surveys results and related medical centres performance.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the needs and ideas of this important group of stakeholders, we can proceed further. Once we specify what is important to be measured, then it is appropriate to develop or choose suitable and measurable performance indicators for each of the recognised categories.

Pharmacy students' preparation to provide pharmaceutical care for patients with non-communicable diseases in six ASEAN countries: A qualitative study

INTRODUCTION

Pharmacy education programs prepare graduates to promote health for patients with noncommunicable disease (NCDs), but there is limited information concerning Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) countries. The study aim was to synthesize academic staff's, alumni's, and alumni supervisors' perspectives on preparation for students to provide pharmaceutical care in NCDs.

METHODS

A qualitative research design was used. In-depth interviews with structured questions following the Context, Input, Process, and Product/Outcomes model framework were conducted with four academic staff, three alumni, and three alumni supervisors from six study sites in six countries. Interview questions were constructed in Thai and translated to English by using forward and backward translation. Verbatim transcriptions were used to perform thematic analysis with investigator triangulation.

RESULTS

Sixty participants were included. The context showed three main themes related to Burden of NCDs, Pharmacist Roles in NCDs, and Goals. The input showed three main themes of Teaching Methods, Development Plans for Academic Staff, and Budgets and Infrastructure. The process showed one main theme of Struggles in Teaching Methods. The outcomes/outputs showed three main themes of Individual, Organizational, and Professional Levels. Schools need curricula that focus on NCDs, pharmacist competency and skills, and academic preparation of students for practice. Gaps limiting achievement of goals included lack of well-trained academic staff, limited learning facilities, self-learning opportunities, acceptance from other health professionals, and career ladders.

CONCLUSIONS

The preparation of pharmacy students varied in six ASEAN countries. Pharmacy education programs must address existing gaps that limit achievement of goals related to NCDs.

Health professionalism and health profession education in the 21st century: an example of pharmacy education

The dramatic, rapid and uncertain changes from the 20th to the 21st century are called global megatrends. Such trends are the emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, an aging society, environmental hazards, behavioural risks, and more complicated lifestyles of humans in the digital age with advanced information technology (IT) that impact much on epidemiological transitions, health security and healthcare.  Health professionals are the key persons for dealing with these challenging healthcare trends. The next generation of health professionals should be equipped with high professionalism especially for the components of humanism that artificial intelligence (AI) cannot replicate. Moreover, interprofessional collaborative teamwork among health professionals is a required skill for working in dynamic transitions such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Interprofessional education (IPE) is one of the essential strategies for enhancing teamwork skills in learners. Six previously reported trends in health profession education for the 21st century are summarized, including interprofessional education, longitudinal integrated clinical education, understanding partnerships and social determination of health in patients, life-long learning, competency-based skills changeable over time, and AI and IT integrated in education. The connection among megatrends, trends in healthcare, health professionalism and health professional’s education will be important issues in academia for both health educators and health professionals.

Health professionalism and health profession education in the 21st century

The dramatic, rapid and uncertain changes from the 20th to the 21st century are called global megatrends. Such trends are the emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, an aging society, environmental hazards, behavioural risks, and more complicated lifestyles of humans in the digital age with advanced information technology (IT) that impact much on epidemiological transitions, health security and healthcare.  Health professionals are the key persons for dealing with these challenging healthcare trends. The next generation of health professionals should be equipped with high professionalism especially for the components of humanism that artificial intelligence (AI) cannot replicate. Moreover, interprofessional collaborative teamwork among health professionals is a required skill for working in dynamic transitions such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Interprofessional education (IPE) is one of the essential strategies for enhancing teamwork skills in learners. Six previously reported trends in health profession education for the 21st century are summarized, including interprofessional education, longitudinal integrated clinical education, understanding partnerships and social determination of health in patients, life-long learning, competency-based skills changeable over time, and AI and IT integrated in education. The connection among megatrends, trends in healthcare, health professionalism and health professional’s education will be important issues in academia for both health educators and health professionals.