Attitudes towards interprofessional education and associated factors among faculty at the college of health sciences in a public university in Kenya: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction conforming health professional´s curricula and training to emerging needs and exponential growth in medical information and education is key. Interprofessional education is one such conformity. Faculty attitudes towards interprofessional education is a good predictor to their engagement. The study purpose is to determine attitudes of faculty and associated factors towards interprofessional education (IPE) at the College of Health Sciences of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. Methods a cross-sectional study among 71 faculty was conducted. A 5-point Likert scale with three attitude subscales on IPE were used to collect data using stratified sampling method. Attitude was dichotomized with >75% as cut-off for positive attitude. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 software at 95% confidence level. Logistic regression was used to identify relationship between bio-demographic characteristics and attitude of faculty. Results there were more male faculty than females and the mean age was 42 years. The overall attitude score was positive (124.46 >75%), with attitudes of faculty towards IPE in academic settings subscale yielding negative attitude score (36.86 <75%). Age, gender, academic position, and expertise level were not significant in influencing faculty´s attitude. Application of interprofessional education was significant (P=0.036), with faculty who had applied Interprofessional education at the college more likely to have positive attitudes. Conclusion faculty have overall positive attitudes towards interprofessional education but negative attitudes towards subscale 3-interprofessional education in academic settings. Behavior change training and IPE sensitization to avert negative attitudes among faculty is recommended.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Perception of Tutors Towards Inter-Professional Education: A Case Study at Uganda Institute of Allied Health and Management Sciences

“…This is in agreement with Hinderer et al (2016) who stressed that the faculty of some of the medical schools in the USA possessed positive attitudes and were willing to engage in IPE after realizing the positive outcomes of IPE. Findings from majority (63%) of the respondents demonstrated a positive attitude towards interprofessional education when conducted in clinical placements than during classroom sessions, this is revealed when they strongly agreed that students in one professional group would benefit most if they engaged in IPE at clinical placement than during classroom sessions, which is in agreement with Kithuci et al (2022) in the study on integrating interprofessional education in the training of health professionals at Jomo Kenyatta university of agriculture and technology.…”