Findings included that the system was easy to use and it provided a large quantity of high quality data. The aim of the system to improve reflection and feedback was not perceived as a benefit by staff or students. The need for training was highlighted and a major disadvantage of the system was its time consuming nature. The evaluation has lead to further development of the system and continued evaluation will be important.

Objective This study aimed to explore patients' experiences of their involvement in the design and delivery of interprofessional education interventions focussing on mental ill‐health for students studying in undergraduate healthcare and healthcare‐related programmes. Design A qualitative methodology using a Grounded Theory approach was used to undertake an iterative series of focus groups with members of a university's Patient, Carer and Public Involvement (PCPI) Group who have a history of mental ill‐health and were involved in the development and delivery of educational interventions for students on undergraduate healthcare and healthcare‐related programmes. Their experiences of being involved in teaching and learning activities, collaboration with academic staff and integration into the academic faculty were explored. Constant comparative analysis facilitated the identification and prioritisation of salient themes. Results Five salient inter‐related themes emerged from the data: (1) reduced stigma and normalisation of experience of illness; (2) enhanced self‐worth; (3) improved well‐being; (4) community and connection; and (5) enduring benefits. Conclusions A supportive university community and a designated academic PCPI co‐ordinator facilitate a supportive environment for patients and carers to develop as educators, contribute to the training of future healthcare professionals and improve their own personal well‐being. Appropriately resourced and well‐supported initiatives to integrate patients, carers and the public into the functions of an academic faculty can result in tangible benefits to individuals and facilitate meaningful and enduring connections between the university and the wider community within which it is situated. Patient and Public Involvement Patients have been involved in the design of the teaching and learning initiatives that this study was primarily focused on. Patients were given autonomy in determining how their experiences should be incorporated into teaching and learning experiences.

The majority of the workshops were facilitated by an interprofessional team comprised of pharmacists, doctors and nurses, with all students working in small groups with participants from each of the professional groups, where possible. All seminars had standardised materials, but it was up to individual facilitators to choose which of the five case studies were used within the seminar. The seminars lasted between 2 and 3 hours, and depending on which case studies were used, two or three cases could be discussed. Student feedback showed that the seminar was particularly successful in highlighting and improving the students' understanding of each other's roles and responsibilities in relation to medication safety. There are considerable organisational challenges in arranging interprofessional groups. Scenarios need to provide tasks that engage and challenge all of the professions involved. Facilitation is an important element. Interprofessional education should be encouraged.

Background: Patients with intellectual disabilities have poorer oral hygiene than the general population. These oral health problems may stem from the anxiety that these patients experience on visiting the dentist. Dental staff may also have difficulty in ensuring their patients understand the treatments they receive at the dentist. Making dentists aware of their communication strategy may combat some of the barriers that some patients with complex communication needs experience in the dental setting. The aim of this study was to report a newly applied training technique to the dental setting to examine dentist/patient communication.Materials and Methods: A dentist participated in Video Interaction Guidance to encourage more attuned interactions with their patients. The dentist was presented with short segments of video footage taken during an appointment with two patients with intellectual disabilities and communication difficulties. Having observed their interactions, the dentist was asked to reflect on their communication strategies with the assistance of a trained VIG specialist.Results: The dentist successfully identified several verbal and non-verbal communication strategies they believed to be effective in reducing patient anxiety and relinquishing control to the patient.Where these strategies were omitted not used, the dentist recognised their strategy and gave positive reflections that may improve future interactions with their patients.Discussion: The VIG session was beneficial in this exploratory investigation because the dentist could identify when their interactions were most effective. Awareness of their non-verbal and verbal communication strategies and the need to adopt these behaviours frequently, were identified as key to improving outcomes for their patients. 3 IntroductionPatient compliance in health interventions can be encouraged if the clinician can communicate effectively with their patients (Freeman & Humphries, 2006). This can provide life-long benefits for patients, leading to increased health and wellbeing. Where communication falters, patients may have greater difficulty accepting their treatments and become disengaged from the decision making process (Hacking, Scott, Wallace, Shepherd & Belkora, 2013). This can lead patients to feel more uncertain and anxious about the outcome of their treatments, particularly with complex clinical procedures where communication may be more challenging. Dougall and Fiske (2008) suggest that the verbal and non-verbal cues that are used during communication do not occur equally. For example, 'words' are thought to take up 7% of our communication with others, whilst a persons' tone of voice and non-verbal cues (i.e. facial expressions and body language) contribute 33% and 60%, respectively. To ensure that a message has been understood, the communicator should ask the individual receiving the message whether they understand what is being communicated and reflect on their communication strategy. Where verbal and non-verbal signals are incongruent...

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