Effective Interprofessional Education: Development, Delivery & Evaluation.

Abstract

Effective Interprofessional Education: Development, Delivery & Evaluation. Freeth D, Hammick M, Reeves S, Koppel I, Barr H. Oxford, UK, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2005, hardcover, 206 pp, $83.95. The growing emphasis and attention on interprofessional education in health care as a means of improving quality of care and decreasing costs makes this work very timely. The authors address the needs of educators and trainers who are currently involved in interprofessional education (IPE) or who desire to initiate such programs. This book is the third in a series titled Promoting Partnership for Health. The series explores interprofessional partnerships from a number of vantage points including policy, practice and education. The first book1 makes the case for interprofessional collaboration as a means for health care reform around the world, and the second2 in the series examines assumptions and evidence regarding IPE. This third volume educates readers on the development, delivery, and evaluation of IPE programs. The book is designed to be useful on its own, without the need to read the previous volumes. For the purposes of the series, the authors define interprofessional education as those occasions when two or more professions learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of The authors' stated objectives for this book are: 1) to provide educators with information to guide the development, implementation, and evaluation of IPE; 2) to increase awareness of research-based models of IPE; 3) to describe the essential resources necessary for the delivery of effective IPE; and 4) to discuss approaches and strategies for evaluating IPE. The book is organized into 3 sections. The first section (2 chapters) addresses the spectrum of IPE and research regarding its effectiveness. The second section (6 chapters) discusses the development and delivery of IPE, while the third section (5 chapters) focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of IPE programs. In the first section, the authors present a model that captures the diversity and complexity of IPE. Interprofessional education activities cover a broad spectrum, from establishing curricula that emphasize clinical practice and policy, with minimal IPE, to placing a significant emphasis on IPE as a means to solve problems and improve quality of care. This text provides useful examples of IPE activities and programs along this continuum. …