Inter-professional education : working together to dispel the myths about teaching care homes in health and social care provision

The World Health Organization (WHO, 2010) recognises Interprofessional Education (IPE) as a central component in strengthening health systems, responding to the increasing complexity within the health and social care sector.’ (Stephens and Ormandy, 2018) Heathlands Village at the FED is a care home who are collaborating with the University of Salford, as part of a National Teaching Care Homes programme led by Care England and in partnership with the Foundation of Nursing Studies, and Burdett Trust. We want to focus on strengthening our inter-professional relationships for the wellbeing and development of residents, staff and students. In this poster we will be demonstrating how both agencies are working together to develop new pathways of learning whilst building the FED’s capacity to become a National Teaching Care Home in every sense. Using ‘conceptual frameworks’, such as Stephens and Ormandy, (2018), we aim to dispel the myth that care homes are not a place for aspiring health and social care professionals to work and develop in or for creating new research opportunities for the wider interprofessional network to learn from. In Stephens and Ormandy’s (2018), study, their consideration of how IPL [interprofessional learning] operates and the benefits to students learning is of interest to us, they discuss …’sustained change in values , attitudes and behaviours…’.The FED’s vision to progress this, links seamlessly with the University of Salford’s drive towards collaborative inter- professional education (IPE), who state, ‘To improve efficiency and service provision, health and social care professions are increasingly encouraged to work in a more collaborative manner. This requires the emergence of a workforce which is able to share practice and knowledge to shape future care pathways.’ (University of Salford, 2019). Together, we aim to work with diverse groups of students; such as the physiotherapist, social work, nursing, sports science and occupational therapist professions to share the interconnectedness of practice and consider and reflect on how this can help strengthen the wellbeing of families, individuals and communities to help shape areas of practice