INTER-PRO EXCHANGE: AN INNOVATION TO ENHANCE INTER-PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

Background: An essential aspect of undergraduate physical therapy programmes is to prepare students to work effectively in inter-professional teams. The United Kingdom Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC, 2016) state that registrants must be able to work effectively with colleagues and be able to share skills, knowledge and experience in order to provide effective care. Providing opportunities that facilitate inter-professional education (IPE) is therefore essential to facilitate students’ professional development. Difficulties delivering IPE learning opportunities across multi-professional curricular are well known, therefore a common way to provide flexible learning opportunities for physical therapy students is through simulated learning. Simulated learning activities provide opportunities to explore real-world practice issues in the safety of a virtual environment.  

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to expand inter-professional education both within a single university setting and more widely across a region of England, UK. Inter Pro Exchange uses a virtual online community to support active learning which has a focus on collaboration, communication and values. In doing so, students not only learn together about the importance of communities to health but also about their own and others’ professional roles.  

Methods: The project utilised an action learning methodology to encourage students to explore the importance of communities on health and well-being. Working in small inter-professional teams, students were asked to profile an area of a virtual online community, Birley Place. Birley Place is a website-based map containing homes, schools, businesses, and health and social care-related services typical of a real-world area. Focusing on residents living in Birley Place, students were then asked to explore their own and other professional roles and the ways in which working collaboratively could enhance resident health and wellbeing. Building on the work of Ching and Amidi-Nouri (2019), students were required to produce an inter-professional strategy aimed at reducing health inequalities.

Results: The main findings from this study revealed that using a simulated community can provide effective opportunities for physical therapy students to learn more about their own and others’ professions. Working alongside other disciplines enabled the development of students’ interpersonal competence and the recognition of the need to work collaboratively. The simulated learning activities provided opportunities for students to develop collaborative skills which are essential when practicing in real world situations. Students valued the flexibility offered by the educational method, which was viewed as an inclusive and enjoyable way to learn about themselves and others.

Conclusion(s): Facilitating inter-professional learning activities can pose cultural and logistical challenges. Conclusions from this study reveal the value of a simulated community to support facilitation of inter-professional learning experiences for physical therapy students. Suggestions for future work include the opportunity to develop the simulated community to support student/resident interaction to further emulate real world practice.

Implications: Inter Pro Exchange is an inclusive and sustainable way to promote inter-professional learning opportunities for physical therapy students. Using simulated resources provides flexibility and clinical realism, which is helpful to inform inter professional learning activities, essential for the development of future physical therapy professionals.

Funding, acknowledgements: Health Education England

Keywords: Communities, Inter-professional, Education

Topic: Education

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Manchester Metropolitan University, England, UK

Committee: Health, Psychology and Social Care Ethics Committee

Ethics number: 11353