Global Guidance on Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice (IPECP) Research

Background or Rationale

IPECP is widely recognized as a potential route to improving the quality of the patient’s health care experience, improving the health of communities and populations, reducing the cost of health care delivery, and improving the work experience of service providers, known as the ‘quadruple aim’

The research agenda for IPECP should elevate the process of enquiry by shifting the focus. IPECP research should be delivered with well-designed and focused multimethod research studies, underpinned by sound theoretical frameworks and models. It is conducted with methodological rigour that is targeted to identify the contribution of IPECP to improving the ‘quadruple aim’ (Bodenheimer & Sinsky, 2014), WHO’s triple billion targets, Universal Health Coverage and in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (Gilbert, 2013; WHO, 2019).

Methods or Methodology

While there has been a substantial increase in published IPECP research in recent years, there is a need for better quality research to inform the knowledge gap that continues to exist. To stimulate further discussion on global IPECP research, InterprofessionalResearch.Global (IPR.Global) and Interprofessional.Global have produced an upcoming IPECP Research Discussion Paper.

Results or Findings

The Discussion Paper, to be presented, offers perspectives to inform discussions around the global research agenda for IPECP by identifying research priorities and providing guidance to theoretical frameworks, research methodologies and composition of research teams. Here are the three proposed global IPECP research priorities:

1. Building the science and scholarship of IPECP through the discovery and integration of innovative evidence-informed strategies.

2. Identifying and applying innovative approaches that embrace and address the inherent complexity of interprofessional endeavours.

3. Developing evidence of impact along the continuum from interprofessional education to collaborative practice in person- and community-centred service delivery.

Conclusions or Implications

IPR.Global and Interprofessional.Global are committed to building and supporting a culture of global IPECP research, which is essential to generating evidence-based, theoretically informed, and methodological sound strategies. To accomplish all this we continue to seek collaborative partnership and sponsorship from around the globe.