Interprofessional Communication and Interprofessional Collaboration (IPC) among Health Care Professionals

Abstract

Communication is inseparably knotted in health care groups. However, not all group communications are effective. The main objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between interprofessional communication and interprofessional collaboration (IPC) through a review of literature. It highlights the importance of IPC and focuses on how crucial interprofessional communication is among professionals to achieve positive IPC. A literature review of health care management, interprofessional care and health sciences related to interprofessional communication and IPC practice among health care professionals are performed. The electronic database for the Health Sciences and Health Administration (MEDLINE) was searched. The selection criteria of this paper include studies that examine the effectiveness of interprofessional communication towards IPC among health care professionals. Health care professionals include nurses, physicians, and a variety of clinical specialists. The review of nearly 200 manuscripts identified that only 24 are applicable for this review. Among all, only one evaluates managers as respondents, others, focus on physicians, therapists, surgeons, graduate students, oncologists, and so on. The key finding suggested that all selected literature provide conclusive findings on the relationship between interprofessional communication and IPC. Physicians and medical graduates appeared to have less attitude towards interprofessional communication and IPC. On top of that, none of the literature evaluates non-verbal aspects of communication in the study. Future research is needed to close the research gaps identified in this review.