Longitudinal faculty development to improve interprofessional collaboration and practice: a multisite qualitative study at five US academic health centres

Abstract

Objectives: Interprofessional (IP) collaboration and effective teamwork remain variable in healthcare organisations. IP bias, assumptions and conflicts limit the capacity of healthcare teams to leverage the expertise of their members to meet growing complexities of patient needs and optimise healthcare outcomes. We aimed to understand how a longitudinal faculty development programme, designed to optimise IP learning, influenced its participants in their IP roles. Design: In this qualitative study, using a constructivist grounded theory approach, we analysed participants' anonymous narrative responses to open-ended questions about specific knowledge, insights and skills acquired during our IP longitudinal faculty development programme and applications of this learning to teaching and practice. Setting: Five university-based academic health centres across the USA. Participants: IP faculty/clinician leaders from at least three different professions completed small group-based faculty development programmes over 9 months (18 sessions). Site leaders selected participants from applicants forecast as future leaders of IP collaboration and education. Interventions: Completion of a longitudinal IP faculty development programme designed to enhance leadership, teamwork, self-knowledge and communication. Results: A total of 26 programme participants provided 52 narratives for analysis. Relationships and relational learning were the overarching themes. From the underlying themes, we developed a summary of relational competencies identified at each of three learning levels: (1) Intrapersonal (within oneself): reflective capacity/self-awareness, becoming aware of biases, empathy for self and mindfulness. (2) Interpersonal (interacting with others): listening, understanding others' perspectives, appreciation and respect for colleagues and empathy for others. (3) Systems level (interacting within organisation): resilience, conflict engagement, team dynamics and utilisation of colleagues as resources. Conclusions: Our faculty development programme for IP faculty leaders at five US academic health centres achieved relational learning with attitudinal changes that can enhance collaboration with others. We observed meaningful changes in participants with decreased biases, increased self-reflection, empathy and understanding of others' perspectives and enhanced IP teamwork.