Abstract
Interprofessional education in health has been identified as a strategy to improve collaborative practice in health care. A need to move away from the training of the various professionals in silos has been identified as a mechanism to address the challenges and changes in the healthcare system. The implementation of interprofessional health education in the health disciplines for undergraduate students in order to promote teamwork among professionals and contribute to improved quality health outcomes is, however, complex and challenging to implement. The purpose of this article is to identify how, by whom and when interprofessional health education for undergraduate students could be implemented in the South African context by means of a realist review. Interprofessional health education was explored in both developed and developing countries with the focus mainly on developing countries and South Africa in particular. The framework for action on interprofessional education and collaborative practice developed by the World Health Organisation (2010) was used as a reference. The authors clarified concepts about interprofessional health education, taking into consideration studies about interprofessional education internationally as well as nationally. The intention in this paper is to guide the reader to understand the various measures, context and outcomes associated with the term ‘interprofessional health education’. The measures identified for interprofessional health education involved the following: infrastructure, resources, management, stakeholders’ attitudes, teamwork and educational principles. As far as the context is concerned, this differs from developing and developed countries, since the nature of both the health and education systems of these countries differ. Interprofessional health education should take place in a meaningful and relevant context that reflects current or future trends. The desired outcomes for interprofessional health education should include collaboration among health professionals, thus resulting in improved health care.
Highlights
The purpose of this article is to identify how, by whom and when interprofessional health education for undergraduate students could be implemented in the South African context by means of a realist review
Interprofessional education in health care gained significant ground as a mechanism to overcome the challenges in the health system (Frenk et al, 2010) and to enhance collaborative practice, as well as improving health outcomes for patients (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2010)
Interprofessional health education, which is the primary focus of this article, was identified as one of the strategies to achieve this goal in developing countries such as South Africa
Summary
The purpose of this article is to identify how, by whom and when interprofessional health education for undergraduate students could be implemented in the South African context by means of a realist review. Interprofessional education in health care gained significant ground as a mechanism to overcome the challenges in the health system (Frenk et al, 2010) and to enhance collaborative practice, as well as improving health outcomes for patients (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2010). Such education is seen as a way of addressing the global shortage of healthcare workers by optimising teamwork among available personnel. This was instrumental in the idea of a realist review of the subject
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
