Liz Anderson

Interprofessional Learning: Aspiration or Achievement?

This article reviews recent developments in interprofessional learning in health and social care with a view to identifying the strengths and weaknesses of current initiatives in this area. As the emphasis increases on interprofessional working as a central pillar of intervention across the social work and health professions, corresponding moves have been made to incorporate parallel learning objectives in curriculum guidance issued by accrediting bodies such as the General Social Care Council and the General Medical Council. It is important, however, not to take the assumed benefits of this development as a ‘given’, or to oversimplify the task of turning high‐level aspirations into practically achievable and pedagogically effective learning experiences. This article therefore gives an account of one attempt to deliver realistic and worthwhile practice‐based interprofessional learning opportunities. The development, implementation and evaluation phases of this initiative are considered in order to draw out the key messages as to the strengths and potential shortcomings of this model, and the positive messages for good practice we believe we can offer.

Assessing interprofessional competence using a prospective reflective portfolio.

Abstract The assessment of interprofessional competence or capability following interprofessional education (IPE) remains essential if we are to ensure future practitioners who are able to work in teams and collaborate for improved health outcomes. Any IPE curriculum must design and describe its theoretical stance and this also applies to how learning will be assessed. This article reports on a study of the use of an IPE portfolio by students across 10 professions as a flexible framework for students to demonstrate their learning. Using a qualitative approach, the completed portfolios of a proportion of students from medicine, social work, and speech and language therapy were read, and a sub-set of students were interviewed to gain their perceptions of this assessment process. The findings are discussed in the light of the value of reflection for learning to consolidate interprofessional understanding. The study highlights how emotional and cognitive learning triggers lead to new understandings for collaborative practice reached only because students were able to reflect on their experiences. The portfolio is now summative and includes other assessment components.

Faculty Development for Interprofessional Education and Practice

Faculty development is essential to ensure effective interprofessional education and practice and to address the challenges of embedding interprofessional learning within health and social care professional curricula. Participating in interprofessional faculty development initiatives involves thinking outside personal professional boundaries and becoming a co-creator of interprofessional knowledge about education practices. Interprofessional faculty development should aim to support faculty members responsible for the written, delivered, and experienced curriculum, and help to align these with each other as closely as possible. Interprofessional faculty development is an on-going process of supporting and assisting the development of staff, shaped by the experiences of faculty members and students, theory, and current educational, health, and social care contexts.

Reviews of theoretical frameworks: Challenges and judging the quality of theory application

Abstract Background: Rigorous reviews of available information, from a range of resources, are required to support medical and health educators in their decision making. Aim: The aim of this article is to highlight the importance of a review of theoretical frameworks specifically as a supplement to reviews that focus on a synthesis of the empirical evidence alone. Establishing a shared understanding of theory as a concept is highlighted as a challenge and some practical strategies to achieving this are presented. This article also introduces the concept of theoretical quality, arguing that a critique of how theory is applied should complement the methodological appraisal of the literature in a review. Method: We illustrate the challenge of establishing a shared meaning of theory through reference to experiences of an on-going review of this kind conducted in the field of interprofessional education (IPE) and use a high scoring paper selected in this review to illustrate how theoretical quality can be assessed. Findings: In reaching a shared understanding of theory as a concept, practical strategies that promote experiential and practical ways of knowing are required in addition to more propositional ways of sharing knowledge. Concepts of parsimony, testability, operational adequacy and empirical adequacy are explored as concepts that establish theoretical quality. Conclusions: Reviews of theoretical frameworks used in medical education are required to inform educational practice. Review teams should make time and effort to reach a shared understanding of the term theory. Theory reviews, and reviews more widely, should add an assessment of theory application to the protocol of their review method.

Expanding interprofessional research in the United Kingdom: A new national research group.

Expanding interprofessional research in the United Kingdom: A new national research group Chris Green, Liz Anderson, Sundari Joseph, Angus McFadyen & Scott Reeves To cite this article: Chris Green, Liz Anderson, Sundari Joseph, Angus McFadyen & Scott Reeves (2015) Expanding interprofessional research in the United Kingdom: A new national research group, Journal of Interprofessional Care, 29:5, 407-408, DOI: 10.3109/13561820.2015.1081803 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/13561820.2015.1081803

Reflection: They Just Don’t Get It!—Digital Stories from Junior Doctors

As experienced leaders within medical and interprofessional education (IPE), Anderson and Kinnair outline the value of digital storytelling for undergraduate medical students as a method of promoting deep reflection. Armed with early enthusiasm for digital storytelling, they worked with Patient Voices to develop a Student Selected Component (SSC) where final-year medical students at the University of Leicester could make their own digital stories focusing on critical moments in clinical practice. The resulting stories have had an impact on the individual students who created them, on the faculty as an educational resource and for students following in their footsteps both at Leicester Medical School and elsewhere, as exemplars of reflective thinking and practice.

Preparing for Interprofessional Teaching: Theory and Practice

Elizabeth Howkins & Julia Bray (Eds)Oxford: Radcliffe, 2007160 pp., £21.95ISBN 13: 978 1 84619 098 8Howkins and Bray evaluate quality interprofessional education by examining the role of the teache...