Transitions Theatre: An Arts-Informed Interprofessional Education Workshop

Abstract

Introduction Transition from pediatric to adult care has significant implications for health outcomes in youth with special health care needs. To optimally support the transition, health care and social service providers must work collaboratively with youth and families in service planning, implementation, and evaluation. Based on interviews with 15 youth and their families, we developed an arts-informed interprofessional education activity titled Transitions Theatre using the method of readers’ theater. Methods Three educators with lived experience (one former pediatric rehabilitation client and two parents of youth with special health care needs) and three academic/clinical educators codesigned the transitions. We conducted four online workshops (14–20 participants each). Results A total of 67 people participated: 59 students from 11 health disciplines and seven postlicensure clinicians and one trainee from five disciplines (e.g., occupational therapy, life skills coaching, early childhood education). Twenty-six participants answered both pre- and postworkshop surveys and reported a positive shift in their understanding of client and family perspectives, their roles in transition support, and other providers’ roles in transition support. After the workshop, learners felt more confident with transition support and interprofessional collaboration. The perspectives of the educators with lived experience aligned with the theater scripts and enhanced learners’ empathetic engagement with the topic. Discussion The evidence-based teaching approach of readers’ theater and our coteaching model offered learners a unique opportunity to learn about the challenges clients and their families face at the time of transition to adulthood and identify their role in an interprofessional transition support.

Transitions Theatre: Creating a Research-Based Reader’s Theatre With Disabled Youth and Their Families

“…Nonetheless, given our research goal to document and represent the stark realities of transition to adulthood, the power of reader’s theatre to foster critical awareness and afford different ways of knowing made it an optimal platform for knowledge creation and mobilization. In addition to the IPE workshop we developed ( Seko et al, 2022 ), we expect healthcare professionals and educators might consider using Transitions Theatre to engage disabled adolescents and families in dialogue about their forthcoming transitions to adult life. This knowledge may not only encourage youth and families to envision adulthood in a new light but also help healthcare providers discover new opportunities for transition support and push the envelope to their clients’ advantage.…”

“…From October 2020 to August 2021, a team of three academic/clinical educators and three lived experience educators (one young healthcare provider with disability and two parents of disabled youth) facilitated four workshops with a total of 67 students and clinicians from 11 health disciplines. Details of the workshop design and learner feedback were reported elsewhere ( Seko et al., 2022 ).…”