A comparison of interprofessional perceptions and working relationships among health and social care students: the results of a 3-year intervention.

Full Abstract

A longitudinal quantitative study in an English faculty of health and social care explored the effects of a pre-qualifying interprofessional curriculum for students from 10 professional programmes. Students on the interprofessional curriculum completed questionnaires containing four attitude scales on entry to the faculty, during their second year and at the end of their final year. At qualification, 581 students (76.9% of those qualifying) completed scales concerning their communication and teamwork skills, their attitudes towards interprofessional learning, their perceptions of interaction between health and social care professionals, and their opinions about their own (inter)professional relationships. Questionnaires were completed at both entry and qualification by 526 students (69.8% of those qualifying), and at all three points by 468 students (61.9% of those qualifying). A comparison group of 250 students (67.6% of those qualifying) on the previous uniprofessional curricula also completed questionnaires at qualification. Students on the interprofessional curriculum showed no significant change in their self-assessment of their communication and teamwork skills between entering the faculty and qualification. However, there was a negative shift in their attitudes to interprofessional learning and interprofessional interaction. Nevertheless, most students were positive about their own professional relationships at qualification. Students with previous experience of higher education were comparatively positive about their communication and teamwork skills, as were female students about interprofessional learning. However, the strongest influence on students' attitudes at qualification appeared to be professional programme. This suggests that interprofessional education does not inhibit the development of profession-specific attitudes. Students who qualified on the interprofessional curriculum were more positive about their own professional relationships than those who qualified on the previous uniprofessional curricula. These data suggest that experiencing an interprofessional curriculum has an effect on students' attitudes at qualification, particularly with regard to their positive perception of their own professional relationships.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Pollard, Katherine C (KC); Miers, Margaret E (ME); Gilchrist, Mollie (M); Sayers, Adrian (A);

Affiliation: Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. katherine.pollard(-atsign-)uwe.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Health & social care in the community (Health Soc Care Community), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Nov; vol 14 (issue 6) : pp 541-52

Dates: Created 2006/10/24; Completed 2007/01/03;

PMID: 17059496, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Allied Health Occupations - education
Attitude
Cohort Studies
Cooperative Behavior
Curriculum
England
Faculty
Female

Humans
Interprofessional Relations
Learning
Male
Professional Practice
Questionnaires
Social Work - education
Students, Health Occupations - psychology
Universities

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.