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Introduction. Through a unique, inter-sectoral and interprofessional initiative, practitioners from education, health and social service sectors were invited to participate in communities of practice, facilitated online. The focus was on building workforce capacity to address the mental health needs of children and youth. Aim. This paper explores interprofessional workforce development by translating knowledge from a mental health promotion initiative developed overseas into the Aotearoa New Zealand context. Methods. Over a 6-month period, practitioners engaged in an iterative, capacity-building process, where they had access to the initiative materials and resources, shared practice stories, networked, and discussed barriers and facilitators for implementation. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to interpret data. Results. Members of the communities of practice engaged in storytelling and made sense of the initiative in relation to their previous knowledge and experiences: practice and thinking were validated. Mental health promotion was positioned as the responsibility of all sectors and the need for effective interprofessional collaboration was deemed essential. Furthermore, translation of the initiative into the bicultural context of Aotearoa New Zealand demanded and deserved sustained attention. Discussion. This study contributes interprofessional and inter-sectoral evidence for building workforce capacity to address the mental health needs of children and youth. Further research is warranted to investigate the outcomes for the children and youth served. Interprofessional communities of practice were shown to provide a sustainable mechanism by which knowledge can be received, transformed and translated into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: The effectiveness of cancer screening programmes is highly dependent on screening uptake. Many interventions have been tested to increase screening uptake. AIM: The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of cancer screening pamphlets as a standalone intervention. The outcome of interest was uptake of cancer screening tests. METHODS: A systematic review was performed on the effectiveness of pamphlets compared to usual care without pamphlets. We searched five databases for research papers in English from 2000 up to May 2019. Randomised controlled trials were included. This research group independently selected studies, extracted data, assessed risk of bias and then compared the information as a group. RESULTS: A total of nine trials involving 4912 participants met our inclusion criteria, of which five were about colorectal cancer screening, three were about prostate cancer screening and one was about lung cancer screening. Five of the nine trials showed that pamphlets alone increased uptake significantly, while the remaining four trials did not show significant effects. DISCUSSION: There is some evidence that pamphlets increase uptake for cancer screenings, especially for colorectal cancer. Due to the small number of studies in this area, generalisability could be limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Pre-registration interprofessional rural immersion programmes provide students with first-hand insight into challenges faced in rural clinical practice and can influence future practice intentions. The impact of short rural and hauora Māori interdisciplinary placements on early healthcare careers is unknown. Aim. Explore whether a 5-week rural interprofessional education programme influenced graduates' choices to work in primary care, rurally, and with Māori patients. Methods. We conducted a survey-based, non-randomised trial of graduates from eight healthcare disciplines who did (n = 132) and did not (n = 479) attend the Tairāwhiti interprofessional education rural programme with hauora Māori placements. Participants were surveyed at 1-, 2-, and 3-years' post-registration. Self-reported practice location and vocation were analysed with mixed-model logistic regression. Free-text comments were analysed with Template Analysis. Results. We did not identify any measurable impact on rural or community workforce participation at 3-years' post-registration. Free-text analysis indicated that a short rural interprofessional immersion placement had long-term self-perceived impacts on desire and skills to work in rural locations, and on desire and ability to work with Māori and embrace Māori models of health. Discussion. Our study suggests that short rural immersion placements do not increase rural workforce participation during early healthcare careers. Three-years' postgraduation may be too early to determine whether rural placements help to address rural health workforce needs. Reports from rural placement participants of increased ability to care for people from rural backgrounds, even when encountered in a city, suggest that assessment of practice location may not adequately capture the benefits of rural placement programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: Globally, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the need for better interprofessional collaboration and teamwork. When disciplines have worked together to undertake testing, deliver care and administer vaccines, progress against COVID-19 has been made. Yet, teamwork has often not happened, wasting precious resources and stretching health-care workforces. Continuing to train health professionals during the pandemic is challenging, particularly delivering interprofessional education that often uses face-to-face delivery methods to optimise interactional learning. Yet, continuing to offer interprofessional education throughout the pandemic is critical to ensure a collaboration-ready health workforce. One example is continuing the established INVOLVE (Interprofessional Visits to Learn Interprofessional Values through Patient Experience) interprofessional education initiative. ASSESSMENT OF PROBLEM: Educators have not always prioritised interprofessional education during the pandemic, despite its immediate and long-term benefits. The INVOLVE interprofessional education initiative, usually delivered face-to-face, was at risk of cancellation. RESULTS: A quality improvement analysis of the strategies used to continue INVOLVE demonstrated that it is possible to deliver interprofessional education within the constraints of a pandemic by using innovative online and hybrid educational strategies. Educators and students demonstrated flexibility in responding to the sudden changes in teaching and learning modalities. STRATEGIES: When pandemic alert levels change, interprofessional educators and administrators can now choose from a repertoire of teaching approaches. LESSONS: Four key lessons have improved the performance and resilience of INVOLVE: hold the vision to continue interprofessional education; be nimble; use technology appropriately; and there will be silver linings and unexpected benefits to the changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: New Zealand is a largely rural nation. Despite the regionalisation of trauma services, rural hospitals continue to provide trauma and emergency care. A dedicated rural inter-professional team-based simulation course was designed, as part of a wider strategy of using simulation-based education to address the disparity in experience and training for rural hospital teams providing emergency and trauma care. ASSESSMENT: A pre-course questionnaire identified learning needs. Post-course evaluation and a follow-up survey assessed participants' perception of the course, and whether lasting changes in clinical or organisational practice occurred. RESULTS: Three courses were provided over 2 years to 60 interprofessional participants from eight rural hospitals. The course employed an interprofessional faculty and used skill workshops and high-fidelity trauma simulations to address learning needs identified in pre-course research. Evaluation showed the course to be an effective learning experience for participants. The post-course survey indicated possible lasting changes in team performance and rural hospital protocols. This educational strategy also allowed the collection of research data for investigating rural team dynamics and interprofessional learning. STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVEMENT: Further development of rural interprofessional simulation courses should include more diverse clinical content, including paediatric and medical scenarios. Participant access was sometimes limited by typical rural challenges such as hospital staffing and locum availability. LESSONS: Rural simulation-based education is both effective for rural trauma team training and a vehicle for rural research; however, there are challenges to participant access and course sustainability, which echo the rural–urban disparity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]