scholarly journals What’s in a Word? Understanding “Interprofessional Collaboration” from the Students’ Perspective

Author(s):  
Teresa Broers ◽  
Cheryl Poth ◽  
Jennifer Medves

This short research report examines the definition of “interprofessional collaboration” (IPC) held by students from medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, and physical therapy at a Canadian university. Four consistent themes emerged across all student groups: 1) Different professions working together; 2) As a team; 3) Toward a common goal; 4) Using the skills/expertise of other professions. This study also revealed differences among students from the various professions, including hierarchy, respect, and client-centeredness. The authors conclude that interprofessional educational initiatives need to provide opportunities for students to engage with students from other professions about what these differences are and why they occur, to ensure that future collaborations in the healthcare workplace are effective.

BJPsych Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Shoesmith ◽  
Awang Faisal Bin Awang Borhanuddin ◽  
Emmanuel Joseph Pereira ◽  
Norhayati Nordin ◽  
Beena Giridharan ◽  
...  

Background The systems that help people with mental disorders in Malaysia include hospitals, primary care, traditional and religious systems, schools and colleges, employers, families and other community members. Aims To better understand collaboration between and within these systems and create a theoretical framework for system development. Method A total of 26 focus groups and 27 individual interviews were undertaken with patients, carers, psychiatric hospital staff, primary care and district hospital staff, religious and traditional healers, community leaders, non-governmental organisation workers, and school and college counsellors. Grounded theory methods were used to analyse the data and create a theory of collaboration. Results Three themes both defined and enabled collaboration: (a) collaborative behaviours; (b) motivation towards a common goal or value; and (c) autonomy. Three other enablers of collaboration were identified: (d) relatedness (for example trusting, understanding and caring about the other); (e) resources (competence, time, physical resources and opportunities); and (f) motivation for collaboration (weighing up the personal costs versus benefits of acting collaboratively). Conclusions The first three themes provided a definition of collaboration in this context: ‘two or more parties working together towards a common goal or value, while maintaining autonomy’. The main barriers to collaboration were lack of autonomy, relatedness, motivation and resources, together with the potential cost of acting collaboratively without reciprocation. Finding ways to change these structural, cultural and organisational features is likely to improve collaboration in this system and improve access to care and outcomes for patients.


Author(s):  
Shira Weiner ◽  
Laura Hagan ◽  
Julie Kardachi

Purpose: Interprofessional collaboration is recognized as a healthcare practice paradigm that may decrease overall costs and minimize errors. Yet it remains common for practitioners to provide care within silos, inadequately considering the impact of their decisions on other providers and overall costs, which ultimately may negatively impact the patient. Integrating interprofessional collaboration in school curricula can establish the importance of this approach to healthcare. For optimal efficacy, every professional in the healthcare team must recognize their unique role and the roles of others, to allow for seamless interprofessional collaboration. Simulation is a teaching tool that provides students with the opportunity to experience and reflect upon their responses to real-world clinical encounters in an environment that is safe to them and to patients. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the effect of interprofessional simulation on occupational therapy and physical therapy students’ role clarity and perceived readiness for collaborative practice. Method: A mixed methods study design was used with occupational and physical therapy students matriculated in the same college. Two surveys were given to the participants pre- and post-interprofessional simulation: the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS; evaluates student readiness for interprofessional learning) and the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS; evaluates student perceptions of interprofessional training). Focus groups followed the interprofessional simulation to explore the subjects’ experience. Results: Statistically significant changes were noted in the RIPLS pre-post simulation. Five themes emerged from the focus groups including: students value simulation; students value interprofessional education; interprofessional experience facilitates an understanding of role clarity; teamwork has value and challenges; and, students value providing patient centered care. Conclusion: Simulation is a teaching resource that may prepare occupational therapy and physical therapy students for interprofessional collaboration in patient care. The results of this study can inform interprofessional curricular development for both occupational therapy and physical therapy programs.


Author(s):  
Randi Veiteberg KVELLESTAD ◽  
Ingeborg STANA ◽  
VATN Gunhild

Teamwork involves different types of interactions—specifically cooperation andcollaboration—that are necessary in education and many other professions. The differencesbetween cooperation and collaboration underline the teacher’s role in influencing groupdynamics, which represent both a foundation for professional design education and aprequalification for students’ competences as teachers and for critical evaluation. As a testcase, we focused on the Working Together action-research project in design education forspecialised teacher training in design, arts, and crafts at the Oslo Metropolitan University,which included three student groups in the material areas of drawing, ceramics, and textiles.The project developed the participants’ patience, manual skills, creativity, and abilities,which are important personal qualities for design education and innovation and representcornerstones in almost every design literacy and business environment. The hope is thatstudents will transform these competences to teaching pupils of all ages in their futurecareers.


2020 ◽  
pp. 221-236

Background: Vision deficits are highly prevalent in children with neurodevelopmental disorders including those with motor delays, learning and reading difficulties, and maladaptive behaviors. These deficits can interfere with their participation and performance in everyday life activities and therefore, require a comprehensive approach to therapy. As such, optometrists and occupational therapists are an optimal team to provide interprofessional collaborative care, reported in research as best practice, in the treatment of these children. However, little is known about the long-called-for collaboration between these professions. The purpose of this study was to explore factors and implications associated with a collaborative practice between optometrists and occupational therapists in the co-management of vision deficits in the pediatric population. Methods: A qualitative, descriptive design was employed to explore perceptions of collaborative practice among teams of optometrists and occupational therapists in the remedial care of children with visual deficits. Following IRB approval, co-located optometrists and occupational therapists were recruited for this study. Semistructured interviews served as the primary data collection tool to investigate the factors and implications of collaborative practice. Results: Eleven professionals provided informed consent and took part in this study, including five occupational therapists and six optometrists. Following thematic analysis, four overarching themes emerged including 1) professional boundaries, 2) co-located, integrated practice, 3) professional growth, and 4) improved patient care. Participants indicated that although barriers exist, exercising humility, upholding patient-centered focus, maintaining mutual respect, communicating frequently, and co-location were factors that enable collaboration. Positive outcomes related to both the provider and the patient were further highlighted supporting the interprofessional collaboration between these professionals. Conclusions: The findings of this qualitative study add to the body of evidence underpinning interprofessional collaborative practice. Furthermore, this study supports the coordination of care, through optometry and occupational therapy collaboration, in the treatment of visual deficits in children with special needs.


Author(s):  
Ken Peach

This chapter discusses the process of building research teams. Increasingly over the past three-quarters of a century, science has become a collective activity, with teams of tens, hundreds or even thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians working together on a common goal. Consequently, almost all research involves building, motivating and maintaining a research team. Even a theoretical group is likely to have one or two postdocs, graduate students and visitors, but research teams will, in addition, have engineers and technicians, as well as, possibly, research administrators. The chapter also addresses the importance of creating and maintaining a good team and team spirit, as large projects are assembled from a large number of small teams working on common goals, usually in a loose federated structure with some overall coordination and leadership.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000841742199437
Author(s):  
Alexandra Lecours ◽  
Nancy Baril ◽  
Marie-Josée Drolet

Background. Professionalism has been given different definitions over time. These are, commonly theoretical and difficult to operationalize. Purpose. This study aimed to provide an operational definition of the concept of professionalism in occupational therapy. Method. Based on a concept analysis design, a meta-narrative review was conducted to extract information from 30 occupational therapy manuscripts. Findings. Professionalism is a complex competence defined by the manifestation of distinct attitudes and behaviours that support excellence in the occupational therapy practice. In addition, professionalism is forged and evolves according to personal and environmental characteristics. The manifestation of professionalism can lead to positive consequences for occupational therapists, clients, and the discipline, notably contributing to a positive and strong professional identity. Moreover, professionalism is also subject to cultural influences, which leads to variations in its development, manifestations, and consequences. Implications. This study offers a contemporary operational definition of professionalism and levers to promote its development and maintenance.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamima Yesmin ◽  
S.M. Zabed Ahmed

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate Library and Information Science (LIS) students’ understanding of infodemic and related terminologies and their ability to categorize COVID-19-related problematic information types using examples from social media platforms. Design/methodology/approach The participants of this study were LIS students from a public-funded university located at the south coast of Bangladesh. An online survey was conducted which, in addition to demographic and study information, asked students to identify the correct definition of infodemic and related terminologies and to categorize the COVID-related problematic social media posts based on their inherent problem characteristics. The correct answer for each definition and task question was assigned a score of “1”, whereas the wrong answer was coded as “0”. The percentages of correctness score for total and each category of definition and task-specific questions were computed. The independent sample t-test and ANOVA were run to examine the differences in total and category-specific scores between student groups. Findings The findings revealed that students’ knowledge concerning the definition of infodemic and related terminologies and the categorization of COVID-19-related problematic social media posts was poor. There was no significant difference in correctness scores between student groups in terms of gender, age and study levels. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time an effort was made to understand LIS students’ recognition and classification of problematic information. The findings can assist LIS departments in revising and improving the existing information literacy curriculum for students.


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