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Interprofessional education (IPE) allows students in health professional programs to practice providing collaborative patient care before graduating. Understanding the perceptions and experiences of health care professionals' IPE received prior to entering the workforce is key for improving IPE programs. This study investigated participants' post-licensure interprofessional collaboration (IPC) experiences, how IPE helped prepare them for IPC post-licensure, their perceptions of the IPE they received as students, and their suggestions for improving IPE. This qualitative descriptive study included 20 healthcare workers from seven professions who graduated from two of three co-located post-secondary educational institutions. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, which were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Inductive thematic analysis revealed five themes and six sub-themes: (a) Quality of care; (b) Role clarification; (c) Interpersonal skills (sub-themes: communication and self-confidence); (d) Co-location; and (e) Need for IPE improvements (sub-themes: additional IPE exposures, shadowing experiences, mandatory IPE, and informal peer learning). These findings appear to reinforce the perception that pre-licensure IPE may support the development of skills for IPC among practicing health professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Canada, young people aged 15–24 had the fastest growing rates of hospitalization for opioid poisoning in the last decade, compared to other age groups. This cross-sectional study examined non-medical prescription opioid (NMPO) use in youth and young adults in a semi-rural Canadian province. Participants completed an online survey about motives for NMPO use, and knowledge and utilization of local resources. All participants (N = 108) were self-reported opioid users between the ages of 15–25 years. The majority of participants had been prescribed an opioid by a physician in the past. Regression analysis showed that being older, having an opioid prescription, and using opioids for pain, coping, or enhancement reasons predicted higher levels of disordered opioid use. Pain was the most common motive for NMPO use and the strongest predictor of disordered opioid use. Most participants reported having limited knowledge about harm reduction resources in their communities. Although the opioid crisis is a wide-spread concern, understanding why youth and young adults engage in NMPO use in local contexts may facilitate the development and implementation of resources that are more useful for these individuals, which could be scalable to other regions across Canada and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about Canadian dietitians' perceptions and experiences of interprofessional collaboration. To address this knowledge gap, a cross-sectional online survey was administered to registered dietitians in Canada. Quantitative data was analyzed in SPSS using descriptive and inferential statistics, while thematic analysis was used for open-text responses. A total of N = 469 registered dietitians representing 10 provinces participated in the study. Results showed a significant difference (p <.001) between the frequency with which dietitians collaborated with other health and social care providers and their desired frequency, with 61.0% indicating they wanted more frequent collaboration. A majority of dietitians (59.2%) had negative views of interprofessional interactions. Nearly all respondents felt there is a need to raise better awareness about the dietetic profession (95.4%) and that dietitians are underutilized in the world of healthcare (92.5%). On three measures, a majority of participants (ranging from 65.6% to 81.5%) reported that their dietetic training helped equip them for interprofessional collaboration. Insufficient time/availability was the obstacle to interprofessional collaboration cited most frequently by dietitians. Results suggest that interprofessional collaboration is an area in need of attention in the Canadian dietetic profession, as well as with health and social care providers who work with dietitians. The study's findings point to potential areas for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most systems across health settings and sectors are not well integrated and do not provide the needed supports, resources, or access caregivers and families require to properly care for their child with complex care needs (CCNs). NaviCare/SoinsNavi is a research-based navigation center aimed to help facilitate more convenient and integrated care to support the needs of children, youth, and their families using a patient navigator to offer personalized family-centered care. A logic model was developed by the NaviCare team to facilitate the foundational work needed for a successful program, such as program planning; establishing program goals and objectives; as well as providing a logical illustration of how the program will work. This visual representation of the assumed cause-and-effect connections between program components and desired outcomes informed the identification of inputs, activities, and outputs deemed critical for successful program execution, and for the research and evaluation of the program processes, as well as the program as a whole. This provided a safeguard to ensure critical activities were not overlooked, allowed the comparison of the ideal versus the realities of the program, enhanced communication, and highlighted data and resources that are needed for program implementation and evaluation. This article describes the development of NaviCare/SoinsNavi's logic model, including how this framework will be used to guide the planning and evaluation of the navigation center to support achieving its vision that every child and youth with CCNs have access to the required health, social, and education services they require in a timely manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractNaviCare/SoinsNavi was a research-based patient navigation center for children/youth with complex care needs (CCNs) in New Brunswick, Canada. This process evaluation focused on the implementation of NaviCare/SoinsNavi by exploring indicators related to program coverage and process. Key indicators were explored using client charts and program archives as well as stakeholder interviews with clients (n = 14) and members of the NaviCare/SoinsNavi team (n = 6). NaviCare/SoinsNavi served 162 families and 42 care providers between January 2017 and May 2020. Most clients lived in one of the three major cities in New Brunswick (Saint John, Fredericton, and Moncton), and were English-speaking. The most commonly reported diagnoses were autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and global developmental delay. The most prominent themes among NaviCare/SoinsNavi team members related to program coverage and program process were (1) expanding the reach and coverage of NaviCare/SoinsNavi through the implementation of a sustained outreach strategy; (2) maintaining the center’s research program; and (3) continuing to build stakeholder relationships to support integrated models of care. The most prominent themes among clients related to program coverage and program process were (1) client satisfaction with program implementation for both caregivers and care providers; (2) recommendations for more sustained outreach strategies; (3) a desire for more hands-on support; and (4) the need to continue building stakeholder relationships to support integrated models of care. This process evaluation demonstrated that NaviCare/SoinsNavi was successfully implemented as planned and produced recommendations for improvements to future iterations of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for interprofessional teamwork and the global challenges for health care systems of dramatically increasing numbers of older adults have received increased recognition in gerontological and geriatrics education. The authors report on the pilot development of a hybrid course on aging and health for graduate-level health professions students from Norway, Canada, and the United States. International faculty from partnering universities developed, taught, and evaluated the course. Course assignments included online forum postings, reflections, and a problem-based learning group assignment and presentation. Directed readings and discussion included topics related to health care systems and services in the three participating countries, teamwork, and patient-centered care. To evaluate the course, quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. Results indicate a significant impact on student learning outcomes, including understanding of issues in international aging and health, attitudes and skills in teamwork, and application to clinical practice. This course clearly established the importance of developing innovative interprofessional educational experiences that respond to the increasingly universal impacts of aging populations on health and social care systems around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interprofessional education (IPE) in health and human services educational and clinical settings has proliferated internationally. The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the facilitation of interprofessional learning is also growing, yet reviews of the effectiveness of ICTs in the delivery of pre- and/or post-licensure IPE have been limited. The current study's purpose was to review the evaluation outcomes of IPE initiatives delivered using ICTs. Relevant electronic databases and journals from 1996 to 2013 were searched. Studies which evaluated the effectiveness of an IPE intervention using ICTs were included and analyzed using the Barr et al. modified Kirkpatrick educational outcomes typology. Fifty-five studies were identified and a majority reported evaluation findings at the level 1 (reaction/satisfaction). Analysis revealed that learners react favorably to the use of ICTs in the delivery of IPE, and ICT-mediated IPE can lead to positive attitudinal and knowledge change. A majority of the studies reported positive evaluation outcomes at the learner satisfaction level, with the use of web-based learning modalities. The limited number of studies at other levels of the outcomes typology and deficiencies in study designs indicate the need for more rigorous evaluation of outcomes in ICT-mediated IPE. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For almost half a century, research has identified that effective teamwork is essential in order to enhance care provision and health outcomes for patients. Although the value of teamwork is well-recognized in healthcare, the historically rooted dynamics of workplace relationships create a myriad of challenges to creating collaborative teams. Understanding the history of interpersonal dynamics between health professionals can provide direction for future interprofessional education and collaboration strategies. The aim of this paper is to provide a historical overview of the social positioning of nursing and medicine in the context of interprofessional collaboration. Few professions work as closely as nursing and medicine. Despite the well-recognized benefits of interprofessional collaboration, these two professions are often socially positioned in opposition to one another and depicted as adversarial. This analysis will seek to advance our understanding of the historical roots between these two professions and their relationships with and among each other in relation to career choice, early socialization and patient care delivery. An exploration of the historical social positioning of nursing and medicine can provide an enhanced understanding of the barriers to interprofessional collaboration and inform future successes in interprofessional education and practice among all health and social care professions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of stakeholders, including students, faculty, educational institutions and the broader health care and social service communities, work behind-the-scenes to support interprofessional education initiatives. While program designers are faced with multiple challenges associated with implementing and sustaining such programs, little has been written about how program designers practice the interprofessional competencies that are expected of students. This brief report describes the backstage collaboration underpinning the Dalhousie Health Mentors Program, a large and complex pre-licensure interprofessional experience connecting student teams with community volunteer mentors who have chronic conditions to learn about interprofessional collaboration and patient/client-centered care. Based on our experiences, we suggest that just as students are required to reflect on collaborative processes, interprofessional program designers should examine the ways in which they work together and take into consideration the impact this has on the delivery of the educational experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical awareness is essential in the development and delivery of effective interprofessional education and collaborative practice (PECP). The objective of this paper was to explain the origins and purpose of an international network, IN-2-THEORY - interprofessional theory, scholarship and collaboration: a community of practice (CoP) that aims to build theoretical rigor in IPECP. It explains why the network is viewed as a CoP and lays out the way forward for the community based on the principles for developing a CoP outlined by Wenger, McDermott, and Snyder (2002). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dalhousie Health Mentors Program builds on a long history of interprofessional health education initiatives by introducing students in health and social care professions to chronic conditions and disabilities, patient/client-centredness, interprofessional learning, and team functioning. This large interprofessional education program (16 participating programs, 650 students) connects interprofessional student teams with Health Mentors, who are adult volunteers with chronic conditions, for a learning experience that extends over one academic year. Students explore their mentor's life story and chronic condition journey, the impact the condition has had on her/his life, and her/his experience with health care in general and interprofessional collaboration in particular. All aspects of the program planning, management, implementation, and evaluation have been interprofessional in nature. Lessons have been learned regarding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interprofessional communication is a team-taught upper-level undergraduate course for Nursing and Health Sciences students. In addition to teaching fundamental communication skills, this course weaves interprofessional competencies into weekly learning activities and assignments. The utilization of the principles and practices of team-based learning in the classroom enhances the attainment and practice of communication and interprofessional collaboration skills. Lessons learned from conducting informal course evaluations and delivering the course multiple times are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Code Blue: Your Patient is in Jeopardy, an extracurricular initiative for interprofessional education (IPE). It states that the event seeks to provide students engaged in health professional programs with opportunity to experience collaborative and interprofessional learning. It says that the event also aims to increase awareness on healthcare programs and to support the Bridging Relationships Across Interprofessional Domains (BRAID) project.