Action learning and healthcare: affinities and challenges

Bridging Human Resource Development and Health Professions Education Through Action Learning

“…Based on the symbiotic relationship, action learning has been frequently used in healthcare: (a) to improve healthcare services (e.g., the quality of care), (b) to develop skills of healthcare professionals (e.g., leadership development), and (c) to enhance collective capacity (e.g., a distributed relational leadership across healthcare facilities) (Boak, 2022). In healthcare settings, the common practice includes increased use of cross-functional teams to provide patient care and to analyze problems involving multiple stakeholders (Sanyal et al, 2022): the nature of complexity and uncertainty in healthcare requires the use of reflective practices in health work and professional development, the emphasis of criticality in analyzing the change in complex healthcare contexts, and the willingness of staff to voice their views and feelings. Challenges in the use of action learning in healthcare (Sanyal et al, 2022) include high workloads, the systemic nature of problems due to the complexity involved, the personal and professional nature of issues with anxiety, frequent communication issues across professional boundaries, and the use of action learning as a technique for the sake of efficiency, though action learning is “an idea, a philosophy, a discipline and also a method, and never just one of those things” (Pedler, 2011, p. xxi).…”