LEVEL OF READINESS ON INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND COLLABORATION OF FILIPINO PHYSICAL THERAPY CLINICAL INSTRUCTORS: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

C.J. Escuadra¹, J. Regino¹, B.N. Abella¹, S.L. Chavez¹, Y. Espejo¹, M.L. Galon¹, D.A. Herrera¹, G.J. Reyes¹

Background: The World Health Organization states that Interprofessional Education and Collaboration (IPEC) is an innovative strategy for a more flexible and collaborative health system that increases the capability of health workers to have a comprehensive approach towards patient care. However at present, World Confederation for Physical Therapy and Philippine Physical Therapy lack official guidelines nor statements on interprofessional collaboration both in educational and clinical settings.Though there are numerous studies that dealt with determining the readiness and attitudes of undergraduate healthcare students, faculty, and administrators regarding IPEC, only few have conducted researches involving clinical instructors.

Purpose: To determine the level of readiness of university affiliated Physical Therapy (PT) clinical instructors regarding teaching IPEC to rehabilitation sciences interns. 

Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that purposively recruited 81 participants from university affiliated health institutions in Quezon City and Metro Manila, Philippines. The Modified Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (mRIPLs) and Attitudes Towards Interprofessional Education Questionnaire (ATIPEQ) were used to objectively measure target outcomes. Descriptive statistics were employed to describe the readiness of PT clinical instructors population from  affiliated health institutions regarding IPEC and its characteristics.

Results: Overall scores in mRIPLs showed strong agreeability in Teamwork and Collaboration (TWC) [4.85 + 0.36 and Patient Centeredness (PC) [4.87 + 0.32] compared to Sense of Professional Identity (SPI) [2.97 ± 0.94]. ATIPEQ responses revealed strong agreeable ratings regarding attitudes toward Interprofessional Collaboration (IPC) [4.68 ± 0.39] and teaching Interprofessional Education (IPE) [4.73 ± 0.39].  IPEC received positive responses among the participants as it promotes core values among physical therapists such as patient centeredness, teamwork and collaboration within the health care team which is highly associated with positive patient outcomes. Lack of formal IPE training, however, may contribute towards the low sense of professional identity amongst PT instructors.

Conclusion(s): The results of the study revealed that the majority of PT clinical instructors from UST-CRS affiliated centers are ready to teach and implement IPEC in the local clinical setting. The clinical instructors exhibited positive attitudes concerning implementing IPEC, and they view it as a concept that can promote patient centeredness and teamwork among healthcare professionals. Since the idea and concept of IPEC is not yet integrated into the local clinical and educational setting, most of the clinical instructors have yet to delineate each other’s role in this type of set-up.

Implications: Members of the rehabilitation team work hand in hand daily in the current clinical setting. However, differing beliefs toward each other’s role still exist, as clinicians were trained differently across various environments. Considering that most clinical supervisors exhibited positive attitudes regarding IPEC and are ready to teach the concept to interns, integrating this system into the current clinical and educational setting should be considered. This is to draw the line on each other’s role in this type of setting and to give a clearer picture of how this proposed system can enhance collaboration, teamwork, and effective communication among professionals for a more holistic, patient-centered care.

Funding, acknowledgements: None

Keywords: Interprofessional Education and Collaboration, Interprofessional Education, Interprofessional Collaboration

Topic: Education: clinical

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: University of Santo Tomas

Committee: College Rehabilitation Sciences Ethics Review Committee

Ethics number: 2019-026