Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare (Oct 2018)
Understanding attitude of health care professional teachers toward interprofessional health care collaboration and education in a Southeast Asian country
Abstract
Endang Lestari,1 Renée E Stalmeijer,2 Doni Widyandana,3 Albert Scherpbier2 1Department of Medical Education, Medical and Health Allied Education Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Islam Sultan Agung, Semarang, Indonesia; 2Department of Educational Development and Research, School of Health Professions Education, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, the Netherlands; 3Department of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Background: Faculty members play crucial roles as facilitators of learning for effective interprofessional education (IPE). However, faculty attitudes are reported to be barriers to successful implementation of IPE initiatives within health care education settings. This study aimed to investigate the following: 1) health care faculty members’ attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration (IPC) and IPE; 2) factors affecting faculty members’ perception toward IPC and IPE; and 3) health care professionals’ perceptions toward factors that hamper the quality of IPC, and whether IPE is a possible remedy for the situation.Methods: A survey was administered to medicine, nursing, midwifery, and dentistry faculty members at 17 institutions in Central Java Province, Indonesia. Respondents were asked to rate their attitudes toward IPC and IPE using a previously validated “Attitude toward Interprofessional Health care Collaboration and Education” scale. To help interpretation of the survey results, 4 monoprofessional focus groups (FGs) were conducted and 3 key participants who could not be present at the FG meetings were interviewed. We conducted a statistical analysis on the quantitative data and performed a thematic content analysis of the qualitative data using ATLAS Ti (version 7).Results: The total response rate was 74.1%. Nurses’ mean scores for attitudes toward IPC and IPE were higher than those of other health care professionals. The main problems of IPC identified from the FG were as follows: 1) differing perceptions of the needs of patients among professionals; 2) unequal participation in decision-making; 3) lack of face-to-face interaction; and 4) overlapping of roles and responsibilities. Faculty members agreed that IPE has the potential to remedy these challenges as long as opportunities are provided to inculcate equal power and contribution in meeting patients’ needs.Conclusion: These findings indicate the necessity of convening faculty development programs regarding IPC and IPE. Additionally, innovative strategies must be developed for the implementation of IPC and IPE in a variety of academic settings. Keywords: attitude of health care professionals, interprofessional education, interprofessional health care collaboration