Interprofessional Collaboration Essay

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The World Health Organization (2010) defines interprofessional collaboration in health care as occurring “when multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds provide comprehensive services by working with patients, their families, carers and communities to deliver the highest quality of care across settings” (p. 7) and IPE as occurring “when two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes” (p. 7). Interprofessional collaboration is contingent on IPE; education promotes collaborative patient-centered care by strengthening communication skills and teamwork. This paper discusses the importance of interprofessional collaboration in healthcare by examining …show more content…

Interprofessional collaboration has been shown to increase access to healthcare, improve outcomes for patients with chronic disease, reduce medical errors, reduce tension and conflict among caregivers, improve the use of clinical resources, and lower rates of staff turnover (Lemieux-Charles & McGuire, 2006). IPE is a means to promote collaboration between health care professions. In a study designed to assess the effectiveness of IPE interventions compared to separate, profession-specific education interventions, 4 of 6 studies found that IPE improved patient satisfaction, collaborative team behaviour, and decreased clinical error in emergency departments (Reeves et al., 2008).
Despite the importance of interprofessional collaboration in healthcare, many colleges still teach students in a uni-professional manner. The uni-professional approach to education creates problems: a lack of understanding of the roles of other professions, poor attitude toward professional collaboration, poor teamwork and communication skills (Frenk et al.,

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