The Terms Interprofessional Education - Essay Example

What do you understand by the terms Interprofessional Education (IPE), Interprofessional Working (IPW) and Enquiry Based learning (EBL) Discuss the potential benefits and difficulties associated with them. Abstract Since last thirty years, the implementation of Interprofessional Education (IPE) has become more prevalent in order to promote alliance with social and health care by virtue of continual improvement of services as well as in bringing effectual dynamism and executing workforce strategies. This raises the expectation in relation to Interprofessional Working (IPW) by adding new aims with each following developmental framework, integrating various new queries unsupported by current contexts and theoretical perspectives eventually leading the movement towards Enquiry Based Learning (EBL). The aim of this paper is to define Interprofessional Education (IPE), Interprofessional Working (IPW) and Enquiry Based Learning (EBL) and their various factors contributing to the development of services based on social and health care as well as to discuss the potential benefits and difficulties associated with their implementation. Interprofessional Education (IPE) According to CAIPE (1997 revised), interprofessional education can be defined as "instances when two or more professions interact with each other with an aim of learning from each other either about the other or from the other in order to improve the association and the excellence of care provided. Barr (1996) describes various dimensions of IPE, namely, - Implicit / explicit - Discrete - All / partial - Positive / negative - Individual / collective - Work / employment based or college based - Shorter duration / longer duration - Sooner / later - Regular learning needs / comparative learning needs - Interactive / didactic The initiation of interprofessional education movement in UK was started during 60s. This was actually related to the interrelationship among various disciplines and practices incorporating the same objective and notion work on improving the social and health care system as a whole. It is primarily stemmed from the need to interact with more than one health practitioner while seeking health or social care. In health care, the complexity of patient's needs may increase with the professional strengths involved and the significance of their ability to perform collaborative work (Hedrick, 1996). This eventually challenges the role of independent practitioner as both the quality and associated costs get decreased when health workers collaboratively perform well (Ovretveit et al, 1997). These movements were categorised under different heads such as - - Contributory movements - In the segment of contributory movements, health and social care professionals primarily focus on programmes relating to the academic disciplines and practices such as gerontology, whereas others upholds theoretical models of care such as model of memory and learning or introduce new practice methodologies such as cognitive-behavioural therapies. - Collective movements - In the segment of collective movements, the primary focus area includes in pre-registration studies such as social and nursing, professions allied to medicine as well as complementary studies. All of these carve up the course either fully or partially within a common disciplinary and academic framework by promoting shared learning practices (Barr, 1999). - Interprofessional Education movements - Interpersonal movement, in particular, came into picture as a bridge to eliminate the barrier of ignorance and prejudice among social and health care sector. It is the learning procedure that enables those to learn together and work collectively, resulting in an overall improvement in the quality of care for the individuals. This leads them to recognize others better, to provide value for each other by promoting collaborative practices, whereas setting the negative stereotyping aside. Examples include in mental health sectors where efforts are made to improve collaborating, hence promoting new model of care. Staffs are re-organized from hospital to the community as well as nursing awards are turned into social care awards (Jay, 1979). In days, interprofessional education develops in a less involuntary and counteractive pattern, but more practical and preventative fashion. Interprofessional education was developed in aiding effect change, in implementing policies and legislation. Examples include child care and community care in which professionals learn their role to play collaboratively and act accordingly by weighing the inference of their interrelationship. This eventually develops the criterion to integrate and develop organizationally aligned with the personal educational needs of each team member of the system (Carlisle et al, 2000). As the process of developing the interprofessional education in time is inherently dynamic, thus various developmental cornerstones have been found during different times - - To incorporate specialist and holistic care (Gyamarti, 1986) - To handle the problem beyond the scope of any profession in particular (Casto and Julia, 1994) - To transform negative beliefs and insight (Carpenter, 1995) - To answer malfunction and conviction among different professional coursework (Carpenter, 1995) - To strengthen collaborative proficiency (Barr, 1998) - To improve job satisfaction as well as to alleviate related stress (McGrath, 1991 & Barr, 1998) - To protect collaboration by means of enhancing services (Wilcock and Hedrick, 2000) by means of changing in effect (Engel, 2001) by means of implementation of policies (Department of Health, 2001) - To promote more flexibility in work system (Department of Health, 2000) Quite evidently there are several benefits associated with the promotion of interprofessional relationship. It promotes the balancing among various professions by means of providing an attractive and interactive learning module within a physically and psychologically learning milieu (Parsell et al, 1998). Moreover, the pre-event information as well as a clear perspective of the outcome and reinforcement of collaborative competence institute the distinctive hallmark compared to any other educational framework (Loxley, 1980 and Funnell et al, 1993). It encourages harmony among multi-disciplinary and uni-disciplinary education. Interprofessional education reinforces collaboration in learning and a practice in a given curriculum as well as it integrates professional values and ethics (CAIPE, 1996). It aids in comparative studies by means of sharing information about each other and enhancing the perspectives about different roles and responsibilities of collaborative working (Barr, 1997). It also enables valuing qualification by assessing interprofessional education subject to system validation, endorsement and research. The difficulties in promoting interprofessional education primarily include adverse effect on specialist and comparative culture, as suggested by Szasz (1969), stemming from academic as well as geographical factors by segregating health care programmes. Glen (2001) promoted integrated curricula for defying compartmentalisation of knowledge (Cable, 2000). The other disadvantage associated with the interprofessional setup is the tendency towards allocating more awards and providing related benefits to in-group members rather than out-group members (Tajfel et al, 1971). The cause of this tendency may be clarified using 'de-categorization theory', as proposed by Brewer and Miller (1984), suggests that the categorization between groups may curtail the importance psychologically among the out-group members. Interprofessional Working Interprofessional working has been defined as the phenomenon addressing the significant issues in relation to the services delivered in the fields of education, health and social care. The urge to necessitate the prevention of tragedies like the death of Maria Colwell (DHSS, 1974), the death of Victoria Climbi (Laming, 2003) and so on have significant implications on the continual growth of interprofessional working environment emphasizing the collaborative working of professionals may lessen the risk of preventing the tragedies whatsoever. During early 1990s in UK, the professional boundaries have started becoming blurred by the active involvement of political intervention highlighting the need to employ services on the basis of client-centred approach (Colyer, 2004). The NHS Plan also provided its support in adherence with the call for partnership and co-operation at all levels facilitating effective care (DoH, 2000). Hence, interprofessional working phenomenon is considered to be one of the most significant tools in enhancing communication among professionals, escalating the understanding the concept and roles of other professionals and finally improving service delivery as a whole. Especially during 1980s to 1990s, the governmental intervention for changing the conventional fashion of team working into the modern trend of working on the basis of interprofessionalism has led to the classification of interprofessional learning as a mode of establishing interprofessional working. The development in the era of interprofessional working may lead to procure the management to face the challenge primarily stemming from the need to bring change in practice in the light of scientific investigation. It is also challenged by the scope of the work pertain to the other professional framework as well as extension of adapting the theoretical and pragmatic perspectives of the other professions. The progress related to increasing mass-knowledge leads to originate the needs of a more precise account of the role of the professionals as well. The ethical issues may not only authenticate a profession but also secure it to receive unjustified criticism. The practical approach in relation to the broadening of the working role may have its own limitation including the complexities of defining the exact nature of their own distinctive professionalism meeting solely the needs of client-professional interaction as a whole. The difficulty associated with the interprofessional working environment may inclusively add significant costs. These costs are primarily stemmed from establishing correlation among various interrelated disciples by means of facilitating the coordination between services and allocating additional resources (Lloyd, 2001 & Roaf, 1995). Other costs may include in promoting the need to coordinate among subcultures. This comprises of the distinctive ways through which different professionals, both groups and individuals, idealize their functions, rationales and practices (Easen et al, 2000). The integration of interprofessionalism may involve the historical prejudices and interpersonal rivalry and jeolousy between members of an interprofessional setup in particular - this eventually results in the decrease in the effectiveness of potential benefits as a whole. Other difficulties may associate the discrepancy among various concepts among members (Hallet and Stevenson, 1980), for example, training and expertise may lead to two professionals conclude into two distinctive assumptions about a single project, hence conceptualizing their purpose differently (Easen et al, 2000). Enquiry Based Learning (EBL) Enquiry based learning is defined as an environment or system in which a student learns through enquiry. This process involves an inherent understanding to the core of the complexity of the problem. It includes constitution and formation enabling an individual to carry out the relevant queries. It may take various features inclusive of assessment, problem-solving capacity and research. The phrase inquiry based learning or enquiry based learning becomes more trendy in recent days. A common example of enquiry based learning includes the PhD or Masters thesis in which a student selects the topic of study, builds up an arrangement to carry out programmes, incorporates the study and ultimately composes it by supporting it (Collin & Stevens, 1983). The significance of enquiry based learning lies within its remarkable shift in the approach from teacher-based and topic or content based to learner centred led to understanding the value of intrinsic qualities and applicability to the future professionalism (Fink, 2003). This approach may enable a student to get engaged in self-directed learning activities by augmenting analysis of a given problem, solution of the problem as well as implementing the solution in practice (Reigeluth, 1983). As the students have the opportunity to face the problems according to their choice, this enables an increase in the overall potentiality of the study and its application in general. There are several negative impacts associated with the learner centred approach as well. These result in the procurement of dilemma in the sense of inadequate definition of outcomes stemming from individual reflective pattern led to defensible assessment compared to the traditional topic based learning methodologies. In reality, there are several enquiry based learning processes that are vaguely defined in the context of carefully structured curriculum. Moreover, there is a lack in the guidance, direction and resource in comparison with the availability based on the traditional scenario. There is a increasing level of discrepancy among the instructor with that of the student regarding the achievement of the student on the basis of learning (Bransford, et. al, 2000). Conclusion There are several unfinished frameworks associated with the development of interprofessional education contributing to the advancement of interprofessional working environment, which can be endorsed by a methodical intercession of the rising generations of researchers' incorporation relating to their insightful study and experiences whatsoever, which, in turn, may find beneficial in facilitating significant characteristics in the movement of interprofessional education and working arena and in understanding the core value this modern trend of study essentially implicates. References 1. Hedrick L, Crain E, Evans D, Jackson MN, Layman BH, Bogin RM, et al. National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Working Group Report on the quality of asthma care. 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