The continued need for interprofessional collaboration and research

摘要

While the need for interprofessional collaboration to meet patient needs was identified over a century ago (Cabot, 1909), the goal remains unmet. Though interprofessional collaboration has been identified as a requisite component of high quality healthcare (Greiner & Knebel, 2003; O'Neil, 1998), poor communication and a lack of teamwork remain leading barriers to quality and safety improvement. The IOM (2003) report, "To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health Care System" posits that improved interprofessional collaboration is essential given the complexity of patients' healthcare needs and the range of healthcare professionals within and between organizations. Interprofessional education (IPE), defined as a teaching and learning process that fosters collaboration between two or more healthcare professions (World Health Organization, 2010) is believed to be a prerequisite to interprofessional collaboration (D'Amour, Beaulieau, San Martin Rodriguez, & Ferrado-Videla, 2004).