Interprofessional attitudes and perceptions: results from a longitudinal controlled trial of pre-registration health and social care students in Scotland

This study made use of a controlled longitudinal design to assess the impact on pre-registration health and social care students of an interprofessional intervention on the attitudes to and perceptions of interprofessional ideals. Evaluation, over four years, of Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Podiatry, Prosthetics and Orthotics, Physiotherapy and Radiography students was performed using the adapted versions of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) and the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS). Baseline samples of the control and experimental groups were 260 and 313 respectively. Support for Interprofessional Education (IPE) appears high but possibly idealistically so initially. Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) models were used to assess intervention effects as well as any possible profession or time effects.