Jodi Schreiber

Attitudes Toward Interprofessional Education: Comparing Physician Assistant and Other Health Care Professions Students

Purpose: Since the release of the 1988 World Health Organization report on the need for interprofessional education (IPE) programs, various forms of IPE curricula have been implemented within institutions of higher education. The purpose of this paper is to describe results of a study using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) to compare physician assistant (PA) students with other health professions students. Methods: The RIPLS survey was completed by 158 health professions graduate students, including 71 PA students, at a small northeastern university in the fall of 2010. Students were enrolled in either counseling psychology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, or PA studies. Students completed the RIPLS survey, demographic questions, and a question regarding experience with the health care environment. Results: PA students scored significantly lower on three of the four subscales of the RIPLS survey, as well as lower in total score. Females of all health professions scored significantly higher on the RIPLS total score and on the Teamwork and Collaboration subscale than did males. Students with prior exposure to the health care system as a patient or as an immediate family member of a patient scored significantly higher on the Negative Professional Identity subscale than did students without such exposure. Conclusions: Results indicate that PA students may value interprofessional collaboration less than other health professions students. Also, there may be gender and experiential differences in readiness for interprofessional learning. These findings may affect the design of IPE experiences and support integration of interprofessional experiences into PA education.

Application of motor learning principles with stroke survivors.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between type of task and type of environment on retention and transfer of motor skills when applied to stroke survivors, as measured by time to complete the task and the number of errors. It was expected that those performing a purposeful task in a familiar environment (home) would demonstrate greater retention and transfer of the motor task; however, data was inconclusive.

Developing communities of interprofessional practice: using a communities of practice framework for interprofessional education.

Development of interprofessional education programs that meet new Interprofessional Education Collaborative competencies is a challenge for faculty and administrators. This article describes a curricular design that places students in learning communities over a 2-year period with a plan for 5 learning sessions. Communities of practice is the theoretical framework of the curricular design, creating interprofessional clinicians capable of effective collaborative practice.

Instructional insight into interprofessional education (IPE).

ABSTRACT Working with other health science professionals in order to promote positive client outcomes is common practice in many rehabilitation delivery areas. The evolution of health care delivery seems to expect more efficient and cost effective client care, therefore the introduction of blended professional teams is moving to the forefront of professional education. As such, providing opportunities to health science students to experience the roles and practice of other professions during the academic portion of their education, Interprofessional Education (IPE), has become and expectation of accrediting bodies. The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) has included standards related to IPE (ACOTE, 2012). The most recent ACOTE standards, effective July 2013, require occupational therapy educators to provide interprofessional collaborative situations to increase student awareness of and participation in interprofessional learning (ACOTE, 2012). This article describes some of the IPE experiences of one small university as well as provides suggestion for other occupational therapy educational programs to move forward to meeting the newly established accreditation standards.

Community Dwelling Elderly Women and Meal Preparation

ABSTRACT Maintaining instrumental activities of daily living independence is an important component of successful aging in place. Meal preparation is an essential occupation and aspect of self-identity for many women. The aim of this study was to learn which meal preparation occupations are perceived to have high activity demands, the source of these activity demands, and the coping strategies developed to mitigate the press of these activity demands. Eight community dwelling American women, 73 years old or more, participated in this study. Using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, each woman identified meal preparation occupations that were important to her but which she felt were performed unsatisfactorily. The author completed an activity analysis based on the Person-Environment-Occupation Model to validate each participants identified source of high activity demands. The results suggest that the activity demands are not solely due to a decline in functional capacity but also due to environmental barriers.