Interprofessional education evaluation and next steps

Abstract

Interprofessional education (IPE) has been highly promoted as a means of enhancing interprofessional practice and thereby having a positive impact on healthcare systems and patient outcomes. IPE is envisaged as a promising contributor to ensuring the appropriate supply and distribution of the health workforce. The WHO Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice (WHO, 2010), affirms that there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that IPE enables effective collaborative practice. In 2014, The Institute of Medicine convened experts who examined the evidence that links IPE to patient outcomes and concluded that “IPE can improve learners’ knowledge, skills and understanding of interprofessional practice”. However, this institution also acknowledged that “establishing a firm empirical relationship between IPE and patient, population and health system outcomes has proven more difficult” (Cox et al. 2016).