Assessing Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice Among Licensed Healthcare Professionals

Current healthcare philosophies promote a team-based approach for comprehensive patient care. To meet these needs, all health professions programs train students to practice interprofessionally. Unfortunately, many practitioners in the workforce lack the knowledge associated with interprofessionalism and remain untraining in demonstrating collaborative practice skills. The purpose of this research was to evaluate potential differences between licensed healthcare professionals who have received formal training in interprofessional education and collaborative practice to those who have not. This mixed-method, exploratory study investigated three factors: interprofessional knowledge, values for interprofessionalism, and confidence in demonstrating interprofessional skills. Study participants were all healthcare professionals in the workforce, representing disciplines in dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy. Data was gathered using surveys (n=355) and follow-up focus groups (n=32). Data were analyzed quantitatively to examine the statistical significance and qualitatively to understand emerging themes. The results indicated that licensed healthcare professionals who received previous training in interprofessional education and collaborative practice held a more profound knowledge base and stronger values for interprofessionalism and had greater confidence in demonstrating interprofessional and collaborative practice skills when compared to untrained healthcare professionals. These findings suggest a need for reforming workforce knowledge and training for team-based patient care. This study also provides insights and supports the development of coursework/programs focusing on interprofessionalism and collaborative practice for untrained healthcare professionals in the workforce. Furthermore, this study adds to the literature on interprofessional education and provides implications for future research.