#5 Interprofessional Education and Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: Why isn't it sustainable?
Both of us have spent a good portion of our careers developing and helping organizations implement tools, processes and infrastructures that support interprofessional education and collaborative practice. As you might guess this is a topic that is near and dear to our hearts.
During the episode we talk about how the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System (1999); Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century (2001) and Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality (2003), served to heighten the awareness of concerns about safe, quality, cost-effective care within the United States healthcare system. These reports also reinforced the need for interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional collaborative practice (ICP).
We talk about what is being learned and the current realities educators and leaders are facing. Recent reports indicate the traditional cultures and practices in healthcare settings do not support ICP (Brandt, KItto, & Cervero, in press) and those who have experienced IPE go into practice settings that do not support what they have learned. IPE and ICP represent an interdependent pair. Both are necessary to prepare the future and the current workforce to work collaboratively.
Achieving the national goals of safe, quality, efficient, effective care will require a healthcare workforce prepared and supported to work collaboratively. Managing the IPE and ICP polarity is key in achieving sustainable outcomes. Leveraging strong partnering relationships between practice and education leaders may be one way to manage the IPE/ICP polarity and support current and future workforce preparation.
