Impact of an Interprofessional, Longitudinal, Undergraduate Student-Initiated Home Visit Program Towards Interprofessional Education

Abstract

Background Interprofessional (IP) practice is an essential aspect of healthcare to meet the challenges of an aging population. Tri-Generational HomeCare (TriGen) is an undergraduate student-initiated, longitudinal, IP home visit program focused on older patients with frequent hospital readmissions. Methods Teams comprising healthcare undergraduates and secondary school (SS) students performed home visits for frequently admitted patients (three or more visits in past six months) on a fortnightly basis over a period of six months. They were supported and trained by healthcare professionals from Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH), a regional healthcare system, and North West Community Development Council (NWCDC), a social service organisation. A multimethod approach was used, with the administration of Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) pre- and post-intervention, and gathering post-intervention quantitative and qualitative feedback. Results 80.1% of 226 undergraduate participants from 2015 to 2018 enrolled in the study. There was a significant decrease in RIPLS total score from a mean of 80.3 pre-intervention to 79.0 post-intervention with a mean difference of 1.3 (-2.5 – -0.089, p = 0.035). Subscale analysis revealed a significant increase in the subscale “Roles and Responsibility” with a mean difference of 0.46 (0.14–0.77, p < 0.01). There was no significant change in the subscale “Teamwork” and a significant decrease in the subscale “Professional Identity” with a mean difference of -0.14 (-2.1– -0.77, p < 0.01). This was discordant to the participants’ feedback. 91.6% of respondents agreed they could “better appreciate the importance of IP collaboration (IPC) in the care of patients”. Qualitative analysis revealed takeaways including learning from and teaching one another, understanding one’s own role and the role of other healthcare professionals, appreciating teamwork and developing friendship with undergraduates from other professions. Conclusion We demonstrated the feasibility of an IP, longitudinal, undergraduate-initiated home visit program that may improve attitudes towards one’s role and responsibilities in IP care for future IPC.