Abstract
The article explains an approach to building interprofessional education (IPE) and
interprofessional practice opportunities as well as content in palliative/hospice
care within undergraduate and graduate curricula for six health disciplines, including
speech-language pathology. Graduate students from nursing, medicine, communication
sciences, and disorders, physical therapy, social work and nutrition, as well as undergraduate
nursing students participated in one of four IPE training sessions using six videotaped
simulation scenes portraying the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Learning
objectives included (1) engaging in effective interprofessional communication and
teamwork, (2) discussing therapeutic patient/family communication, (3) employing supportive
holistic care with patients and families at end of life, and (4) relating the patient's
physiological assessment findings to the dying process. Students discussed the role
of the interprofessional team in end-of-life care and were coached on ways to apply
interprofessional communication, a key interprofessional education competency, using
patient- and family-centered care principles. Results revealed strong positive agreement
among the disciplines regarding the value of the learning opportunities provided during
this IPE simulation activity.
Keywords
Interprofessional education - palliative care - collaboration