Frances Gordon

A Framework for Interprofessional Capability: Developing Students of Health and Social Care as Collaborative Workers

Modernised health and social care services require that qualifying practitioners have the necessary skills for them to practise collaboratively. The nature of interprofessional working is, however, poorly understood. This article describes the development of learning outcomes regarding interprofessional working that are relevant to all professions.

Exploring the role of the interprofessional mentor

This paper describes the articulation of a model of interprofessional mentorship derived from qualitative interviews with students and health and social care professionals who support students in practice settings. The findings describe three core components within the data: the facilitation of interprofessional learning; supervision of students and assessment of their learning. These components interact with the aim of developing interprofessional capability in students. It is suggested that the articulation of this model has the potential to inform future practice and development around interprofessional mentorship.

Interprofessional Mentorship: Taking on the Challenge

The current emphasis on the development of an interprofessional workforce in health and social care puts interprofessional learning at the heart of undergraduate curricula. This paper explores the concept of interprofessional mentorship and considers how this role might be developed in order to facilitate interprofessional learning in the practice placement.

Developing Interprofessional Capability in Students of Health and Social Care ‐ The Role of Practice‐Based Learning

The modernisation agenda in health and social care is concerned with providing an integrated service for patients/clients and their carers. This paper focuses on the nature of practice‐based learning environments that support the development of students as effective interprofessional practitioners for the modernised health and social care services.

From school to work: Promoting the application of pre-qualification interprofessional education in the clinical workplace

The rationale for Interprofessional Education (IPE) is based on the assumption it will improve practice. Despite evidence that it may modify attitudes and provide knowledge and skills for collaboration, there is little evidence about whether these skills can be transferred to practice. The aim of this research was to explore how midwifery students apply pre-qualification IPE learning to practice and to understand the factors in the clinical workplace that facilitate or hinder this application. A purposive sample of students, educators, Heads of Midwifery and new midwives from four universities throughout the United Kingdom participated in semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Emerging themes were developed using the principles of Grounded Theory. Participants articulated ways in which the clinical environment either promoted or prevented IPE in practice. The extent to which the clinical institution promoted IPE was made visible through the support for students during placements; the support for new midwives; and the evolution of professional roles. Buy-in for the IPE agenda in the workplace influences the ability of new midwives to apply IPE competencies to professional practice. The benefits of a theoretical foundation in interprofessional skills may be lost if students and new midwives find themselves working in contexts that do not make collaboration a priority.

Involving Patients and Service Users in Student Learning: Developing Practice and Principles

This paper describes work with patients/service users, students and educators, resulting in the identification of key issues to be addressed when planning patient/service user participation in interprofessional student learning. Preparation, communication, support and debriefing for both students and lay participants were revealed as essential for successful patient/service user involvement in education.

Becoming an interprofessional practitioner: factors promoting the application of pre-qualification learning to professional practice in maternity care

Abstract Teamwork and collaboration have been recognized as essential competencies for health care providers in the field of maternity care. Health care policy and regulatory bodies have stressed the importance of Interprofessional Education (IPE) for learners in this field; however, there is little evidence of sustained application of pre-qualifying IPE to the realm of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) in practice following qualification. The aim of this research was to understand how newly qualified midwives applied their IPE training to professional practice. A purposive sample of midwifery students, educators, new midwives and Heads of Midwifery from four universities in the United Kingdom participated in semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and focus groups. Qualitative, grounded theory methodology was used to develop the emerging theory. Newly qualified midwives appeared better able to integrate their IPE training into practice when IPE occurred in a favourable learning environment that facilitated acquisition and application of IPE skills and that recognized the importance of shared partnership between the university and the clinical workplace.

What do midwives think about interprofessional working and learning

OBJECTIVE This study describes the views of midwives and educators regarding interprofessional working and learning within midwifery care. DESIGN Qualitative methods using semi-structured interviews and focus groups. PARTICIPANTS 39 participants, drawn from three participant groups--midwifery educators, newly qualified midwives and Heads of Midwifery--from four university sites throughout the U.K. took part in the research. FINDINGS Midwives are called upon to work collaboratively with other professionals during the daily provision of maternity care. Midwives are aware of the competencies required for effective collaboration and are supportive of the inclusion of interprofessional education in the training of student midwives. However, the relevance of this education was questioned by some participants because it is not apparent whether its inclusion will result in midwives who are better able to collaborate. KEY CONCLUSIONS Midwives are supportive of interprofessional learning for students but are uncertain whether it will result in changes in practice. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Interprofessional education may support collaboration in practice, but future educational research aimed at understanding how learning is applied to practice is needed.

Presentation of Self in E-Veryday Life: How People Labelled with Intellectual Disability Manage Identity as They Engage the Blogosphere

Very little is known about the online habits of people labelled with intellectual disability. What little information there is focuses more on demographic descriptors rather than any analyses of issues specific to that group. Hence the vast majority of the literature is firmly focused on more generic issues as they affect the general population. Some very few disability dedicated studies, however, have examined homepages maintained by individuals who live with Down syndrome. Here at least is evidence of a field of inquiry that recognises there may be particular aspects of web based communications that deserve special interest. The dynamics of web based communications are fast moving and the relatively static homepage has subsequently given way to Web 2.0 technologies. Here the recent and exponential increase in the popularity of blogging as a means of mass communication has attracted much comment in both popular and specialist quarters. Its ease of use and near universal availability has prompted massive sociological inquiry. But again the profile of people living with intellectual disability is absent from the debate. Our study reports on a project in which adults with intellectual disability were assisted to access the web in general, and the ‘blogosphere’ in particular. Our focus is on the means and methods by which the participants were able to manage their off and online identities. We look at the language employed, the layouts used and the way the online messages and postings reflected or distorted the actual lived experiences of these proto-bloggers. Notions of authorship and audience also contribute to the debate as these issues raise questions about sense of self, disability as a cultural construct and our ability to negotiate the increasingly important virtual world of the web.

Information needs and decision making preferences of older women offered a choice between surgery and primary endocrine therapy for early breast cancer

To establish older womens (≥75 years) information preferences regarding 2 breast cancer treatment options: surgery plus adjuvant endocrine therapy versus primary endocrine therapy. To quantify womens preferences for the mode of information presentation and decision‐making (DM) style.