An Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Competency-focused Workshop to Optimize Team Performance

We aimed to strengthen interprofessional (IP) teams’ competence in collaborative practice through a workshop series. Objectives included: 1) examine personal and professional values, and roles and their impact on collaborative practice, 2) apply relationship building principles to perform effectively as a team, 3) integrate quality improvement tools into work processes to aid team-based care. Published Core Competencies for IP Collaborative Practice delineate professionals\u27 skills in the art and science of working collaboratively, yet few professionals have had training to develop these skills. IP teams from academic and community-based settings, including long-term, acute, and ambulatory care, were recruited to participate in classroom-based workshops. Sixteen faculty from 7 professions developed three, 3-hour workshops. During the sessions, active learning strategies challenged teams to analyze their current practice. Between sessions, teams applied principles in completing application exercises. Session 1 addressed the domains of values/ethics and roles/responsibilities, session 2 addressed communication and teamwork, and session 3 introduced novel tools to evaluate and improve outcomes. Over two years, 42 participants from 10 teams representing 15 professions attended the workshops. Faculty used mixed method evaluations combining novel and existing scales. Participants rated (a) the overall impact of the workshop and (b) expectations for applying new knowledge to enhance team performance on 3-point scales. Mean ratings were high for workshop 1 (2.75, 2.78); 2 (2.82, 2.85); and 3 (2.75, 2.75). Forty-one participants rated themselves as competent on the individual workshop objectives. All participants would recommend the workshop to colleagues. The workshops were well received, resulted in improved self-reported competence, and high intention of applying what they learned to improve patient outcomes. In this age of complex medical systems the key to improved outcomes is better IP teamwork. We plan to offer the workshops semiannually with additional study to assess actual impact on work practice. Objectives: 1) Examine personal and professional values, and roles and their impact on collaborative practice. 2) Apply relationship building principles to perform effectively as a team. 3) Integrate quality improvement tools into work processes to aid team-based care