Learning collaborative teamwork: an argument for incorporating the humanities.

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Collaboration
• Medical Humanities

Background:

• Healthcare systems face increasing burdens, necessitating improved collaborative care models.
• A holistic, interprofessional team approach, including patients and families, is proposed to enhance care delivery.
• The role of humanities in fostering interprofessional teamwork within clinical settings requires investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To hypothesize that humanities-based learning activities during clinical placements can enhance interprofessional teamwork.
• To develop and pilot a self-learning module focused on interprofessional education for collaborative, person-centered practice through the humanities.
• To assess the impact of a humanities-focused module on learners' understanding of interprofessional collaborative person-centered care.

Main Methods:

• Development of a self-learning module, "interprofessional education for collaborative person-centred practice through the humanities."
• Piloting the module with an interprofessional team of faculty, clinical staff, students, and patient representatives.
• Learner evaluation of the self-paced, self-directed module across four areas of care.

Main Results:

• Learners reported a satisfactory learning experience with the self-directed module.
• Significant positive effects were observed on certain learner attitudes and knowledge related to collaborative care.
• Module evaluation led to a revised edition with improved structure for self-directed learning.

Conclusions:

• Humanities-based learning can positively influence interprofessional teamwork and collaborative person-centered care.
• The developed self-learning module offers a viable approach to enhance interprofessional education.
• The module's adaptation into an online e-learning format facilitates broader integration into pre-licensure curricula.