Complexities of interprofessional identity formation in dental hygienists: an exploratory case study

Abstract

Background In a super-aging society, medical-dental collaboration is increasingly vital for comprehensive patient care. Particularly in dysphagia rehabilitation and perioperative oral functional management, dental hygienists’ active involvement is pivotal to interprofessional collaborative practice. Despite this societal expectation, dental hygienists’ experiences and perceptions of interprofessional collaboration have not been explored. This study aims to investigate dental hygienists’ interprofessional identity formation and perceptions of interprofessional collaboration. Specifically, it was explored from the perspectives of dental hygiene students and hospital dental hygienists. Methods This study is underpinned by Wenger’s social theory of learning, which focuses on identity as a component in the process of learning in communities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 dental hygiene students in their final year at a technical college and five dental hygienists engaging in interprofessional care at a university hospital in Japan. The narrative data were analysed using an inductive approach to thematic analysis to extract themes regarding the identification of self in interprofessional teams. Results Dental hygiene students found several barriers to the collaboration, including power relation and conceptual hierarchy, limited understanding of other professional roles, and differences in language and jargon. They viewed themselves as inferior in the interprofessional team. This resulted from their limited knowledge about general health and less responsibility for problems directly related to patient life and death. However, they could ultimately perceive the negative experiences positively as challenges for the future through reflection on learning in clinical placements. Contrarily, dental hygienists did not have such negative perceptions as the students did. Rather, they focused on fulfilling their roles as dental professionals in the interprofessional team. Their identities were formed through actively involving, coordinating their activity, and creating new images of the world and self in inter-professional communities of practice. Conclusions Interprofessional identity is relational as well as experiential, which is developed in complex and socially dynamic processes across intra- and inter-professional communities of practice. Engagement, imagination, and alignment are essential aspects of their interprofessional identities, which inform conceptual foundations of interprofessional education and collaborative practice in health care.

Broadening the Dental Hygiene Students’ Perspectives on the Oral Health Professionals: A Text Mining Analysis

“…Their text data included "improving and maintaining oral health that is closely related to everyday life, such as eating, speaking and laughing", and the "improvement of the overall health and quality of life through oral health". This result is consistent with that of the study by Imafuku et al, that explored the identity formation processes of dental hygienists in the field as interprofessional collaborators [19]; however, the significance of this research is that it showed that such a change in perception might be occurring among the undergraduate students.…”

“…This study was approved by the University of Shizuoka Research Ethics Committee [approval number [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Furthermore, informed consent was provided by all the study participants.…”

“…The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the national and institutional ethical standards. The ethical approval for the study protocol was obtained from the Human Institutional and Regional Biomedical Research Ethics Committee, the University of Shizuoka Research Ethics Committee [approval number [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

“…For example, service-learning exercises and curriculum revisions have been implemented to develop students’ attitudes and sense of professional responsibility [ 17 , 18 ]. In addition, Imafuku et al explored the interprofessional identity formation in dental hygienists [ 19 ]. However, the overall understanding of the process of dental hygienists’ professional identity formation over time, beginning with their first year of study, remains unclear.…”

Exploring the Metacognitive Dimensions of Social Media Consumption for Elementary Education in Islamic Boarding Schools: A Study on Self-Reflection and Self-Regulation

“…26 Here is a critical analysis of this topic: 1) Self-Reflection, social media platforms allow individuals to share personal thoughts, experiences, and opinions. 27 A critical analysis would explore the extent to which individuals engage in self-reflection while using social media and examine the factors that may hinder or facilitate this process. 28 2) Metacognitive Awareness refers to individuals' understanding and awareness of their own thinking processes.…”