Allied Health Professions

Abstract

Successful team collaboration improves patient care, decreases the patient length of stay, and reduces healthcare costs. Several studies have shown positive effects of working as a team, including better care continuity and coordination, beneficial changes in patient behavior, improvement of patient symptoms, and satisfaction through better response to their needs. The goal of this chapter is to provide a summary of the background and theory behind interprofessional education (IPE) focusing on aspects related to educational aims, learning activities, assessment, training, practice, and challenges in implementing IPE. It is intended to help answer the question of how to apply IPE most effectively within health professions curricula. The author concludes that while there has been a substantial increase in published IPE research in recent years, there is a need for high-quality cross-sectional and longitudinal research. Few studies use theory, and more studies are needed to explore how IPE leads to improved long-term outcomes in centered patient care.