Effects of Interprofessional Education on Readiness for Interprofessional Learning in Rehabilitation Science Students From Professional Health Care Programs: Protocol for a Systematic Review

Abstract

Background The World Health Organization defines interprofessional education (IPE) as a process in which students from different health care programs work together to provide effective care while deepening their knowledge of each other’s roles. Previous literature shows a strong argument for early exposure to IPE as a facilitator for high quality patient care. The goal of IPE is to improve interprofessional collaboration (IPC), the “gold standard” of care to enhance patients' quality of life, functional ability, and health status, especially for patients who require expertise from a variety of health care professionals. IPC has shown improvements in quality of life, functional ability, and health status. IPE can occur in the form of structured interventions or spontaneously in student placements. Literature has demonstrated that IPE facilitates skill, knowledge development, teamwork, communication skills, and mutual respect among health care professional students. Objective This systematic review aims to examine IPE outcomes, including readiness for IPC, IPE perceptions, attitudes toward collaborative learning, student confidence, practice efficiency, and team dynamics after IPE interventions in rehabilitation science students. Methods The study will be conducted as outlined by the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews and will be reported per the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting of Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) 2015 guidelines. Students have performed literature searches across the databases MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, ERIC, Web of Science, and AMED. Studies will be included if their IPE intervention included multiple prelicensure health care professional students in a health care or health care education setting. Based on timelines presented in the Institute of Medicine’s report on the impacts of IPE, relevant studies from 2016 to the present will be included. The Risk of Bias 2 tool will be used to study sources of bias. The GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) working group’s methods will be used to evaluate the quality of the evidence presented. The final 3 authors are assisting as supervisors, providing oversight and feedback as needed. Any deviations from this protocol will be reported in the final paper. Results The search strategy was finalized and searched across the databases by March 8, 2024. The systematic review was registered with PROSPERO on March 31, 2024. A total of 10,692 citations were retrieved for abstract and title screening, beginning in March 2024, and 756 were eligible for full-text screening in April 2024. Six articles were considered for inclusion and data extraction, which began in July 2024. Finalization of the extracted data and paper will occur in September 2024. Conclusions This systematic review will provide a summary of the effects of IPE interventions in prelicensure rehabilitation science students. It will provide educators, health care providers, and students with valuable information for understanding the relevance of IPE. It will also shed light on research gaps and highlight areas for further study. Trial Registration PROSPERO CRD42024506081; https://tinyurl.com/3tf2h9er International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/60830