Stories of Interprofessional Education
Stories help people make sense of experiences – their own and others. They can be a particularly beneficial way for participants to process difficult, confusing or painful experiences, and to share those experiences with others.
CAIPE members have, over the years, made frequent use of Patient Voices stories for their own work in promoting and teaching interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional collaborative practice. Although there are many Patient Voices stories addressing health and social care issues, there were few that specifically addressed and focussed upon interprofessional education, interprofessional collaboration, or teamwork. CAIPE has now filled this gap with a collection of stories specifically relating to IPE.
Several CAIPE members attended a Patient Voices® workshop early in 2018. Each participant produced a rich and personal story of their journey to IPE and their continuing work in promoting the principles and values of IPE as service user, practitioner, teacher, student or IPE leader.
These digital stories were created in a Patient Voices workshop sponsored by the Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE).
These stories have been entered for the 2019 Charity Film Awards. Please show your appreciation by taking a couple of moments to vote for them here.
And on the fifth day…
Emily is called to an acutely unwell patient and finds herself in a position of leadership for the first time as an FY1 doctor. She looks to the ward team for support and advice, together they work to stabilise the patient. Emily reflects on her passion for team working and experiences that have helped her to develop her team-working skills. Emily’s story focuses on the transition period from pre- to post-qualifying and the importance of collaborative working.
The rhythm
Susanne’s story illustrates the rhythm of learning and working together. In order to survive and thrive you need to engage with this rhythm. Care for your team members and together you can achieve so much! When the tune changes, listen to it, be open-minded and try to learn from it.
From discord to harmony
Richard’s digital story explores the parallels of learning and experience within two stories. The first focuses on a challenging interprofessional teaching experience involving social work and medical students. The second focuses on Richard’s experience of singing in a choir. The skills and power of keeping quiet and listening emerge from each and their importance is emphasized.
Collective wisdom
Liz reflects on the start of her journey to become a champion for interprofessional education (IPE). She describes how she was able to observe a medical, nursing and social work student bringing different perspectives to help address the needs of an older patient with comorbidities. The moment shines a light on learning “with from and about each other”. Liz shared these early appreciations with the UK Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE) who supported her early work and with whom she still works as a CAIPE Fellow.
Me and the ocean
In her story Laura traces the challenging swim she is having in the ocean, the ocean of recovery with Schizophrenia, and the strong currents of an interprofessional education (IPE) initiative in mental health recovery for healthcare students at King’s College London to which it has given rise.
Crying is not enough
This personal and professional story links Elizabeth’s roles as carer and interprofessional teacher in her struggle to find help for her dying husband. She describes the challenges of introducing an interprofessional education (IPE) programme with its failures and successes; her discovery of the UK Centre for the Advancement Interprofessional Education (CAIPE) and their guiding principles of IPE enabled her to produce a successful programme. Learning from the experience, Elizabeth went on to research and publish work on IPE before giving back to CAIPE by becoming CAIPE chair.
Taking time
Chris’ story broaches the issue of stress and burnout in the workplace. The example highlighted here is brought from experience of working in general practice in the United Kingdom. The story includes reflections from delivering clinical interprofessional (IPE) teaching and how principles can be applied to improving teamwork in the primary care workforce. The story also references mindfulness-based approaches to improving wellbeing.
Offering
The story is about Charles and Sue’s work to support an interprofessional team to learn and teach others about the hitherto unfamiliar concept of palliative care and the practical aspects of its delivery in a low-resource African country (Tanzania). Charles’ story illustrates the underlying values of interprofessional education i.e. the underlying philosophy of IPE rather than the implementation of the IPE framework. Charles was able to use his knowledge of the principles of interprofessional education to cross cultural and geographical boundaries by respecting individuality, difference and diversity of the Tanzanian community.
New shoes
A story of transitional change, an insight into personal growth and professional development. As a medical scientist, Amira has the knowledge and understanding of many clinical professionals; having worked in other industries, she also has knowledge and understanding of professions that are not directly related to health and social care. Her story raises questions and challenges about the importance of learning to work with, from and about people from all walks of life in order to promote interprofessional learning beyond the boundaries of social care.