Interprofessional Education in Allied Health

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SCHOOL OF COMMUNITY HEALTH

Interprofessional Education in Allied Health

Caroline Robinson, Annette McLeod-Boyle, Kristy Robson, Narelle Patton, Lauren Blatchford.



Outline

Background

Interprofessional working in the Allied Health

Clinic

Themes for consideration

Future directions



Charles Sturt University (CSU) was established in 1989 as a

multi-campus institution.

It is a progressive University well-known for its innovative

approach to education and applied research.

“Through our network of campuses,

and in close association with industry,

professions and government, we are

committed to maintaining a course

and research profile to meet the needs

and supports the aspirations of our

communities, and contribute to the

enrichment of inland Australia”.



The Faculty of Science has more than 7500 students and over 350

staff.

The School of Community Health hosts courses in:

• Health and Rehabilitation Science

• Occupational Therapy

• Physiotherapy

• Podiatry

• Speech Pathology



The Allied Health ClinicThe Allied Health Clinic on the Albury campus was established in 2001, initially to provide clinical placement experience for podiatry students.

It currently operates 48 weeks of the year.

Managing up to 240 clients per week.

Up to 85 students and 12 clinical educators engage in workplace learning each week.



Community Engagement and Wellness (CEW) CentreThis new centre is scheduled for development on

the Thurgoona campus, situated close to the

Dental and Oral Health Clinic.

It will provide purpose designed spaces for health

and social care provision to the community, by

undergraduate students working in an authentic interprofessional setting. Due for completion end of 2012.



Interprofessional opportunities within the Allied Heath Clinic

2006-7: Podiatry and Pharmacy students

2007-present: Podiatry and Physiotherapy students

This collaboration was further developed in 2009 to form the

Musculoskeletal Clinic

2009-present: Podiatry and Occupational Therapy students



Interprofessional education

Occasions when two or more professions

learn with, from and about each other to

improve collaboration and the quality ofcare (Curran, Sharpe, & Forristall, 2007).



Interprofessional practice

Aims

• Improve knowledge and skills through collaboration, mutual respect and effective communication (Conway, 2009)

• Improve professional relationships, increase efficiency and coordination, and enhance patient health outcomes (Curran et al, 2007)

• Improve service delivery and patient care (Hammick et al, 2007)



Focus group discussions with occupational therapy, physiotherapy and podiatry students have highlighted

relevant issues for interprofessional working.

liv.ac.uk



Inter-professional

working

Client focused care

Becoming a practitioner

Professional

comm

unication

Ext

endi

ng

prac

tice

know

ledg

e

Facilit

ating

IP le

arnin

g Enabling student

participation

Prepa

ratio

n fo

r the

workp

lace

The balance of power



Interprofessional working

“To see how the different allied health professions work together and to show us that we’re not all separate, but we do actually work together a lot within our professions” (2nd year OT).

Scope of practice

Different perspectives

Referral to another practitioner

Challenging the taken for granted

Addressing prejudices

TeamworkReinforcing stereotypes

Understanding how another AHP practices



Client focused care

“It enables you to take two different approaches to the problem, so you’re more likely to have a better outcome for the client. So I’ve had physios look at lower back and knee issues and I’ve looked at what I can do for the foot, orthoses or something, and we’ve combined the two things” (3rd year Pod).

Client communication

Enhancing client outcomes

Family and carers

Enhancing compliance

Client overload

Holistic care

Continuity of care

Complex case management



Extending practice knowledge“I learnt how to feel your core stabilisers so when to feel you’re actually contracting your pelvic floor and how to get a client to feel that. I never learnt that through our Podiatry stuff, but then I did it myself a couple of weeks after I learnt it with the physio class, just as myself as a Podiatrist” (3rd year Pod).

Learning from other practitioners Enhancing

understanding

Broadening perspectiveStudent as educator Sharing

knowledge



Professional communication“I don’t have a blue clue what they’re on about when they’re explaining something to you, they just start talking in Podiatry talk and you’re like no I don’t have any idea what you’re saying” (2nd year OT).

“It’s really hard if your last patient was seen by a physio and you’re the next person to see the notes, then to decipher what they’ve written, cause they don’t do SOAP notes like we do” (4th year Pod).

Record keepingProfessional terminology



Becoming a practitioner

“But I think at the same time they do see us not as a full professional but they have a quality of respect for what we’re saying. They’re not just going to be like, ‘oh they’re just a student they don’t really know’. It was good to see that they had taken on board what we’re saying and how we’re treating them. It’s working as well, that’s exciting (3rd year PT).

Professionalism

Accepting responsibility

Mutual respect

Appreciating your own limitations

Feeling valued

Gaining confidence



Facilitating interprofessional learning

“The way they check your notes they just read over them but gave you a tip for next time, not actually criticise so you weren’t scared to write it the next time” (2nd year OT). “They won’t stand there and watch you do the treatment or watch you give them the exercises or watch you do the assessment, you actually do it yourself. And I think it shows their confidence in you (3rd year PT).

Supervisor behaviour

Continuity of supervision

Role modelling

Structuring the IP learning experience



Enabling student participation

“But when you come into a new situation on the first day, you’re not going to be able to get in there and do it. I mean it would take a fairly special person to be able to come in to a whole group of people you don’t know and just perform. So coming in more than once would be beneficial” (Year 3 Pod).

Expectations of students Pre-placement preparation

Time managementSocial networking

Environmental factors



The balance of power

“They know exactly what they’re doing and they look so suave and they’ve got it all sorted and then we come in and we’re like, what the hell are we doing in here?” (2nd year OT).

Dealing with conflict

Differing levels of experience Too many

opinions

Segregation

Inclusiveness

Poor practice



Preparation for the workplace

“I think being able to just spend more time working [in the interprofessional clinics]. Especially if you go into a hospital setting or something like that you will be working with a multidisciplinary team, so it’s really important to have developed those skills (3rd year PT).

Different to other placements

Preparation for external placements

Need for additional clinical experience



Between different groups of allied health professionals shared learning promotes respect for, and a deeper

understanding of, the role of each health professional within the multidisciplinary team.

Shared learning works well when there is a common goal, mutual respect, mutual benefit and a balance of power

between the different groups involved.



Future Directions

The development of the Community Engagement and

Wellness (CEW) centre will provide many diverse

opportunities for interprofessional learning and teaching.

• Podiatry

• Physiotherapy

• Occupational Therapy

• Speech Therapy

• Health &Rehabilitation

• Pharmacy

• Psychology

• Nursing

• Dietetics

• Exercise Physiology



Thank you to:The other members of the project team:

Kristy Robson (Podiatry) and Narelle Patton (Physiotherapy)

The research assistant:

Lauren Blatchford

The undergraduate allied health students for participating in

these clinics and for attending the focus groups.

The clinical educators, Allied Health support staff and

fieldwork coordinators, for their support of the UG students.



References

Conway, J. (2009). Implementing interprofessional learning in clinical education: Findings from a utility-led evaluation. Contemporary Nursing, 32(1-2), 187-200.

Curran, V.R., Sharpe,D., & Forristall, J. (2007). Attitudes of health sciences faculty members towards interprofessional teamwork and education. Medical Education, 41, 892-896.

Hammick, M., Freeth, D., Koppel, I., Reeves, S. & Barr, H. (2007). A best evidence systematic review of interprofessional education: BEME guide no. 9. Medical Teacher, 29, 735-751.



Select one of the issues highlighted in this presentation which is of interest to you and discuss how you would address this issue to enable successful interprofessional collaboration.

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Interprofessional Education in Allied Health