Enhancing the Facilitation of Interprofessional Education Programs: An Institutional Ethnography

Abstract

Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) among health care professionals has been identified as essential to enhance patient care. Interprofessional education (IPE) is a key strategy towards promoting IPC. Several factors including the nature of facilitation shape the IPE experience and outcomes for students. Stereotypes held by students have been recognized as a challenge for IPE and IPC. This study aimed to explore institutional rules and regulations that shape facilitators’ work in IPE interactions problematized by students’ stereotypes at a university in Atlantic Canada. Employing institutional ethnography as a method of investigation, data were collected through observations, interviews, focus groups, and written texts (such as course syllabi). Participants included three facilitators, two undergraduate nursing students, and two IPE committee members of an IPE program. Findings revealed four work processes conducted by facilitators in local IPE settings related to students’ stereotypes. These processes were shaped by translocal discourse and included the work used to form teams, facilitate student introductions to team members, facilitate team dynamics, and provide course content and context. Study results included the identification of several strategies to address student stereotypes and enhance collaboration, including directions for future curriculum decisions and the pedagogical organization of IPE.

Promoting Older Adult Health with Interprofessional Education through Community Based Health Screening

“…In this way, we create diverse interprofessional student teams that can explore and learn about the roles and responsibilities of other team members while they work on the development and practice of effective communication with each other and their community participants. This method of promoting IPE is consistent with Ezzendine and Price, who found that forming student teams, facilitating student introductions, and facilitating team dynamics were valuable [ 15 ].…”

The Development and Evaluation of the Interprofessional Education Facilitation Program for Health Professionals Using the Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction (ARCS) Model of Instructional Design

“…However, there is a lack of comprehensive evidence regarding IPE facilitation. Although there is literature analyzing the IPE facilitation process through qualitative research [11], there are no IPE facilitation programs developed through research to date. This study aimed to develop an IPE facilitation program for healthcare professionals to learn IPE facilitation skills, promote interprofessional collaboration in the participants' own organizations through research, and determine whether the facilitation skills of participating professionals could be enhanced and sustained.…”