Human bodies are made up of complex systems. No one system works in a silo, and neither should healthcare professionals. The complex health needs of our populations require the expertise, knowledge and skills of diverse health professions working together. But health professionals are often siloed in their practice as well as their education.
What’s the solution?
The solution can begin with education. Building a collaborative health workforce actually starts before entry to practice, and within the early educational experiences of health professional students. Research shows that introducing collaboration can, and must start in students’ earliest socialization to their professional role.
The science and theory of how we learn and develop across our lives can help to explain why early exposure to collaboration matters. Social interactions, and exposure to community and culture are key influences on how we develop cognitively and socially. Our social experiences allow us to learn from, and about others. As well, the social groups, communities and cultures we interact with shape what we learn, and how we behave.
Upon entering a health professional program, students are exposed to social contexts, culture and behaviours of their chosen profession. Over time and exposure, this is how they learn, and come to embody the knowledge, skills, and behaviours to fulfill their professional role in practice.
So what happens if we expose them to a wider professional group?
Enter: Interprofessional education
Interprofessional education (IPE) is defined as “occasions where two or more professions learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care”. IPE exposes students to a broader, interprofessional community. It provides opportunities for students to socially interact with other health professions, and to explore and develop understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities. IPE also engages students in various events, and scenarios—in classrooms, simulation, and in practice— where they can experience collaboration and teamwork ‘in action’.
Our team’s longitudinal research with health professional students has found that early, frequent and ongoing exposure to collaboration during their programs is a significant indicator for better collaboration and teamworking skills in practice. Consistent exposure to other health professional students supports social connections that are linked to collaborative attitudes and behaviours in practice. Frequent exposure to collaboration also supports a sense of belonging and commitment to others that enhances teamwork. Our findings provide evidence that early IPE, and ongoing exposure to collaboration with others is key to unlocking better collaboration and more effective team-based care in practice.
We also have evidence that learning, with, from and about one another hinges on authentic contexts. In fact, the authenticity of interprofessional experiences can make or break how students see, value and are prepared for collaborative healthcare practice.
What makes an experience authentic? And what’s at risk for healthcare teams and systems in the future if we do not provide ‘real’ experiences of collaboration? Join me next month for answers.
Photo by Andy Barbour
