Home visits as an interprofessional learning activity for students in primary healthcare

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate person-centred home visits as an interprofessional learning (IPL) activity for undergraduate students during clinical placements in primary healthcare. Background: Interprofessional collaboration is known to improve patient safety, increase job satisfaction, and reduce stress among healthcare professionals. Students should already during their basic training experience interprofessional collaboration. Methods: Students from six different educational programmes and supervisors and adjunct clinical lecturers from different professions participated in the learning activity. The students read a description of the patient history before the visit together with a supervisor. During the home visit, the students were responsible for history-taking and for performing relevant examinations. Afterwards, the students made a joint care plan for the patient. Students, supervisors, and adjunct clinical lecturers discussed the outcomes in a seminar and reflected on each other’s professional roles. The students and the patients answered a questionnaire about the activity, and the supervisors and the adjunct clinical lecturers were interviewed in focus groups. Findings: Thirty interprofessional home visits were conducted, involving 109 students from six different healthcare professions. The students reported that they had gained insights into how different professions could collaborate and an increased understanding of teamwork. All patients were satisfied with the visits and felt that they had been listened to. The interview analysis showed one overarching theme: ‘Interprofessional home visits in primary healthcare were an appreciated and effective pedagogical learning activity with a sustainability dependent on organisational factors’. Conclusions: The students felt that participation in the activity increased their understanding of collaboration and of other professions’ skills. The supervisors found the home visits to be an appreciated and effective learning activity. The results indicate that this learning activity can be used in primary healthcare settings to promote students’ IPL, but organisational factors need to be considered in order to support sustainability.

Exploring experiential learning within interprofessional practice education initiatives for pre-licensure healthcare students: a scoping review

“…was also identified [ 53 , 59 , 61 , 62 , 129 ]. Specifically introducing and/or evaluating the model, framework, or program design of the IPP initiative was a stated purpose [ 86 , 118 , 130 , 131 ] and understanding processes of student learning through IPP curriculum design and experiences was also noted [ 132 – 134 ]. Evaluation of placements and experience on student outcomes .…”

“…In 22 articles, creation of learning initiatives for planned and/or authentic placements and experiences for interprofessional experiences was an intention of the IPP education initiative [ 51 , 58 , 62 , 64 , 67 , 76 , 78 , 81 , 85 , 89 , 95 , 101 , 103 – 105 , 107 , 117 , 118 , 120 , 134 , 139 , 148 ]. Related to this, 20 of the initiatives were designed to build on IPE, IPL, and/or IPC theory or experiences through the initiative [ 48 , 59 , 70 , 80 , 87 , 92 , 106 , 109 , 111 , 112 , 114 , 128 , 131 , 133 , 135 , 137 , 138 , 140 , 141 , 144 ]. Gaining familiarity with other disciplines and professions and learning from each other was cited as an intention in 16 of the IPP education initiatives [ 55 , 56 , 64 , 65 , 73 , 74 , 82 , 88 , 91 , 98 , 115 , 121 , 130 , 134 , 135 , 141 ].…”

“…Nature of student participation reflected how students were involved in the IPP education initiative. For 41 IPP initiatives described in the literature the learning experience was a clinical placement where students of at least one discipline were assigned to participate as part of their educational program with other students from other disciplines participating through elective coursework or volunteerism [ 49 , 53 , 55 , 56 , 59 , 62 , 63 , 68 , 74 , 77 , 81 – 87 , 93 , 95 , 96 , 98 , 103 , 104 , 106 , 107 , 109 , 111 – 113 , 115 , 120 , 123 , 128 , 131 , 134 , 135 , 137 , 141 , 142 , 146 , 148 ]. Terms that were considered synonymous with clinical placement included clinical rotation , training site , clerkship , and residency [ 68 , 77 , 83 , 86 , 93 , 112 , 123 ].…”

Problematização: Experiências de estudantes de Medicina e Enfermagem na prática profissional

“…Além da capacitação do docente, a proposta da problematização na prática profissional requer grandes organizações logísticas e gestoriais, pois o confronto com a realidade desperta nos estudantes expectativas que, em determinadas situações, podem não ser atendidas, resultando em angústia e incertezas, portanto, um facilitador preparado e um ambiente propicio ao aprendizado são cruciais para a eficiência do método (Toth-Pal et al, 2020).…”

Student nurses as a future general practice nursing workforce. Implementing collaborative learning in practice: implications for placement learning and patient access. A mixed methods study

“…There seems to be no international equivalent term to CLIP, but the concept of Dedicated Education Unit (DEU) appears to offer similar potential for collaborative Interprofessional Learning (IPL) facilitated by clinical coaches [11]. Internationally, projects report success with a collaborative approach to IPL for community care in Singapore [12] and with dental students in Canada [13], and it is also clear that general practice is a fertile ground for IPL [14,15].…”