Designing and Operationalizing a Toolkit of Bilingual Interprofessional Education Assessment Instruments

Abstract

This article addresses one of the most important unresolved issues of interprofessional education (IPE): assessment. Here we describe our process and experiences designing and operationalizing a toolkit of qualitative and quantitative IPE assessment instruments for online and face-to-face education programs developed concurrently in both English and French. The toolkit includes a) the quantitative W(e)Learn program evaluation survey, which aligns with the W(e)Learn framework, b) the quantitative Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (ICCAS), to self-assess competency development in collaborative practice using a post-post design, and c) qualitative team and learner contracts, with explanatory exemplars, that serve as both learning and assessment tools. These instruments are currently undergoing validation in hopes of a) increasing the likelihood that IPE experiences are planned and delivered effectively and b) increasing the justification and accountability of IPE experiences and practical outcomes. Although this validation process will continue for some time, the development of the IPE assessment tools is worthy of particular attention in order to guide further work in this field.French and English copies of the toolkit assessments can be downloaded from http://ennovativesolution.com/WeLearn/IPE-Instruments.html. Although these instruments were designed with interprofessional healthcare teams in mind, we feel they could readily be transferable to a variety of interdisciplinary tasks and settings, such as social work and human services education.Keywords: Interprofessional education; Healthcare; Toolkit; Survey; Learner contract Introduction Interprofessional education (IPE) entails engaging professionals to learn with, from, and about each other in order to work more effectively in teams. Although this article addresses interprofessional healthcare education, we feel the processes and products described can be applied to a variety of interdisciplinary tasks and settings, such as social work and human services education.Education and training can teach methods and approaches to increase clinical capacity for interprofessional care (IPC), optimize the use of staff expertise and skills, improve communication among healthcare professionals, and increase the efficiency of case management [1,2]. Researchers have argued that "by learning and working together in educational settings, healthcare professionals will be able to work more effectively with one another in occupational settings" [3]. Barr [4] proposed that IPE is fundamental to a more efficient and effective healthcare system and, ultimately, better patient care.

Collaboration of Dental Hygiene and Nursing Students on Hospital Units: An Interprofessional Education Experience

“…As the survey instrument, we chose the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS), a 20-item self-assessment tool that incorporates the interprofessional competencies of communication, collaboration, roles and responsibility, collaborative patient and family-centered care, conflict management and resolution, and team functioning. 22 The original tool (developed by MacDonald) is a 20-item self-assessment tool that assesses behaviors rather than values or beliefs on a seven-point Likert scale from 1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree with an additional option of "not applicable." This tool has been found to have content validity.…”

“…This tool has been found to have content validity. [22][23][24] A revised version of the ICCAS uses the same 20 items but with responses on a ive-point scale from 1=poor to 5=excellent; this tool was also found to have content validity. 25 Either test is administered in one sitting, by the use of a test-retest design for which responses are completed retrospectively.…”

“…25 Either test is administered in one sitting, by the use of a test-retest design for which responses are completed retrospectively. [21][22][23][24][25] For either version of the test, upon relection, participants respond to how they felt about each item before exposure to an IPE experience and then again when considering how they felt after participating in an IPE event. Both versions of the ICCAS evaluate participants' self-perceived increase in attainment of interprofessional competencies.…”

An Interprofessional Education Nursing Home Dining Simulation Promotes Changes in Student Attitudes

“…Lastly, team functioning is defined as the ability to continually improve collaboration and quality of care. Items are scored on a summated rating scale from 1-7 (1= strongly disagree; 7= strongly agree) (Archibald, Trumpower, & MacDonald, 2014;MacDonald et al, 2010). Higher scores indicate stronger collaborative interprofessional competencies.…”

Improving interprofessional competence in undergraduate students using a novel blended learning approach

“…The ICCAS(MacDonald et al, 2010) is a 20-item surveybased tool divided into six areas of interprofessional competencies: communication, collaboration, roles and responsibilities, collaborative family-centered approach, conflict management/resolution and team functioning. The tool measures participants' reflections of how they have changed during the intervention using a Likert scale.…”