Inter-professional education and primary care: EFPC position paper.

Robin Miller,Nynke Scherpbier,Loes Van Amsterdam,Virgínia Guedes,Peter Pype

doi:10.1017/s1463423619000653

Abstract

Inter-professional education (IPE) can support professionals in developing their ability to work collaboratively. This position paper from the European Forum for Primary Care considers the design and implementation of IPE within primary care. This paper is based on workshops and is an evidence review of good practice. Enablers of IPE programmes are involving patients in the design and delivery, providing a holistic focus, focussing on practical actions, deploying multi-modal learning formats and activities, including more than two professions, evaluating formative and summative aspects, and encouraging team-based working. Guidance for the successful implementation of IPE is set out with examples from qualifying and continuing professional development programmes.

Highlights

The strength of primary care is that it engages a diverse and rich range of professionals, organisations, and sectors
Inter-professional collaboration, which is crucial for primary care, is to meet the needs of populations that are ageing and with multiple chronic conditions in a way that is person-centred, effective, and sustainable (Samuelson et al, 2012)
Inter-professional education (IPE) has an important role to play in professionals developing the competences required to collaborate successfully

Summary

Introduction

The strength of primary care is that it engages a diverse and rich range of professionals, organisations, and sectors. The good practice examples of IPE within primary care identified common enablers within such programmes – involving patients in the design and delivery, providing a holistic focus, focussing on practical actions, deploying multi-modal learning formats and activities, including more than two professions, evaluating formative and summative aspects, and encouraging team-based working. Not all of these enablers were contained within all of the examples, and programmes involving a formal academic qualification more thoroughly demonstrated multiple themes than shorter and more focussed CPD programmes (see Tables 1–3). This was achieved through recruiting patient representatives to be members of a

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Conclusion