Am I working alone here???

[Assalamualaikum & salam sejahtera]

Health care system is of the important element in health system beside health finances. Health care system consists more than one profession or known as multiprofession. When there are more than one profession, it is impossible that we are dealing with intraprofession but also interprofession. Today’s, there are many university already start with interprofessionalism course in the learning period.

As such in Faculty of Medicine, Gadjah Mada University, there is a week in the block that teach and share the knowledge of the interprofessionalism. This topic looks like simple process but it is actually harder that medicine. It needs several skill to fulfill the needs of interprofessionalism.

Before I describe the interprofessionalism, let me introduce what are the healthcare professional there in the clinical setting (hospital). Basically, according to British Medical Association (BMA), there are 3 broad healthcare professional in the healthcare system.

1. Doctors – General practitioner,  GP specialty registrar, lecturer, medical student, researcher, specialist, consultant,  junior doctor, senior doctor

2. Nerve & Midwives – Health advisor specialist, clinical nurse specialist, nursery nurse, nurse consultant, nursing auxiliary, staff nurse, specialist nurse

3. Allied Health Professionals – Dietician, Assistant practitioner, optometrist, audiologist, orthontist, counseling psychologist, radiographer ‘diagnostic

* to read for full list of health professional, click here.

 

When the patient comes, there might be a referring system that almost delay in diagnosis and therapy. A complex interaction that has gaps and overlaps/redundancies. Gaps can impact the patient safety because there is no professional attend to them and thus indirectly worsen the quality of care. Where as, overlaps and redundancies has impact on access, efficient used of resources, and consistencies among healthcare professional. Thus, it is very important today’s learning process to include interprofesionalism course.

source: N. Posel, S. Faremo & D. Fleiszer; Moving toward the development of Interprofessional e-Cases;presented in Slice of Life, 18th International Meeting for medical Multimedia Developers and Educators, University of Lausanne, Switzerlnd, 4-8 July 2006

How these healthcare professional are working together?

source: N. Posel, S. Faremo & D. Fleiszer; Moving toward the development of Interprofessional e-Cases;presented in Slice of Life, 18th International Meeting for medical Multimedia Developers and Educators, University of Lausanne, Switzerlnd, 4-8 July 2006

Uniprofessional plan of care comparison is one the method to understand the role of each professional in the healthcare system. When a patient comes, they will know who are going to deliver the care and when each of the health professional needs the other healthcare professional. Working as a team has many advantages. Thus, interprofessional is very important to avoid the misunderstanding. 

 

Cross-sectoral interprofessional collaboration during health crises

“In 2005, northern Pakistan experienced a severe earthquake resulting in thousands of injuries. Relief efforts were particularly challenging in isolated mountain communities. A wound clinic was eventually opened within a partially constructed hotel, but had no source of water, making infection control extremely difficult. One of the volunteer health workers took the initiative to locate a trained plumber who was able to provide the clinic with a constant source of clean water within 48 hours. In this situation, seeking expertise outside of the conventional health-care team ensured earthquake victims were able to receive quality health-services in spite of the difficult circumstances (52). This is a common occurrence in emergency situations where collaboration across sectors can be essential to improving health outcomes (48).”

Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice(WHO/HRH/HPN/10.3)

Here is the examples the needs of interprofessionalism. It is very important especially in emergency case and disaster management. It is very important that each one of the healthcare professional can not work alone.

To capture current interprofessional activities at a global level, the WHO Study Group on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice conducted an international environmental scan between February and May 2008. The aim of this scan was to:

Determine the current status of interprofessional

• *   Determine the current status of interprofessional education globally
  *   Identify best practices
  *  Illuminate examples of successes, barriers and enabling factors in interprofessional education.

A total of 396 respondents, representing 42 countries from each of the six WHO regions, provided insight about their respective interprofessional education programmes. These individuals represent various fields including practice (14.1 per cent), administration (10.6 per cent), education (50.4 per cent) and research (11.6 per cent).

sources: Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice(WHO/HRH/HPN/10.3)

Results indicate that interprofessional education takes place in countries and healthcare settings across a range of income categories.* It involves students from a broad range of disciplines including allied health, medicine, midwifery, nursing and social work.

References:

1. N. Posel, S. Faremo & D. Fleiszer; Moving toward the development of Interprofessional e-Cases;presented in Slice of Life, 18th International Meeting for medical Multimedia Developers and Educators, University of Lausanne, Switzerlnd, 4-8 July 2006

2. Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice(WHO/HRH/HPN/10.3)

-tHaNk yOu-