Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice
World Health Organization: Report 2010
Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice
Executive Summary
At a time when the world is facing a shortage of health workers, policymakers are looking for innovative strategies that can help them develop policy and programmes to bolster the global health workforce. The Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education
and Collaborative Practice highlights the current status of interprofessional collaboration around the world, identifies the mechanisms that shape successful collaborative teamwork and outlines a series of action items that policy-makers can apply within their local health system
(Figure 1). The goal of the Framework is to provide strategies and ideas that will help health policy-makers implement the elements of interprofessional education and collaborative practice that will be most beneficial in their own jurisdiction.
The case for interprofessional education and collaborative practice for global health
The Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice recognizes that many health systems throughout the world are fragmented and struggling to manage unmet health needs. Present and future health workforce are tasked with providing health-services in the face of increasingly complex health issues. Evidence shows that as these health workers move through the system, opportunities for them to gain interprofessional experience help them learn the skills needed to become part of the collaborative practice-ready health workforce.
A collaborative practice-ready workforce is a specific way of describing health workers who have received effective training in interprofessional education. Interprofessional education occurs when students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes. Once students understand how to work interprofessionally, they are ready to enter the workplace as a member of the collaborative practice team. This is a key step in moving health systems from fragmentation to a position of strength. Interprofessional health-care teams understand how to optimize the skills of their members, share case management and provide better health-services to patients and the community. The resulting strengthened health system leads to improved health outcomes.
Moving forward with integrated health and education policies
The health and education systems must work together to coordinate health workforce strategies. If health workforce planning and policymaking are integrated, interprofessional education and collaborative practice can be fully supported.
A number of mechanisms shape how interprofessional education is developed and delivered. In this Framework, examples of some of these mechanisms have been divided into two themes: educator mechanisms (i.e. academic staff training, champions, institutional support, managerial commitment, learning outcomes) and curricular mechanisms (i.e. logistics and scheduling, programme content, compulsory
attendance, shared objectives, adult learning principles, contextual learning, assessment). By considering these mechanisms in the local context, policymakers can determine which of the accompanying actions would lead to stronger interprofessional education in their jurisdiction.
Likewise, there are mechanisms that shape how collaborative practice is introduced and executed. Examples of these mechanisms have been divided into three themes: institutional support mechanisms (i.e. governance models, structured protocols, shared operating resources, personnel policies, supportive management practices); working culture mechanisms (i.e. communications strategies, conflict resolution policies, shared decision-making processes); and environmental mechanisms (i.e. built environment, facilities, space
design). Once a collaborative practiceready health workforce is in place, these mechanisms will help them determine the actions they might take to support collaborative practice.
The health and education systems also have mechanisms through which health-services are delivered and patients are protected. This Framework identifies examples of health-services delivery mechanisms (i.e. capital planning, remuneration models, financing, commissioning, funding streams) and patient safety mechanisms (i.e. risk management, accreditation, regulation, professional registration).
A call to action
It is important that policy-makers review this Framework through a global lens. Every health system is different and new policies and strategies that fit with and address their local challenges and needs must be introduced. This Framework is not intended to be prescriptive nor provide a list of recommendations or required actions. Rather it is intended to provide policy-makers with ideas on how to contextualize their existing health system, commit to implementing principles of interprofessional education and collaborative practice, and champion the benefits of interprofessional collaboration with their regional partners, educators and health workers.
Interprofessional education and collaborative practice can play a significant role in mitigating many of the challenges faced by health systems around the world. The action items identified in this Framework can help jurisdictions and regions move forward towards strengthened health systems, and ultimately, improved health outcomes. This Framework is a call for action to policy-makers, decisionmakers, educators, health workers, community leaders and global health advocates to take action and move towards embedding interprofessional education and collaborative practice in all of the services they deliver.