A pilot implementation of interprofessional education in a community-academe partnership in the Philippines

Interprofessional education (IPE) has been internationally recognized. In the Philippines, however, there is limited experience with IPE. This paper describes the activities of interprofessional teams and the student participants' perceptions of the pilot implementation of the Family Case Management, an IPE initiative of the University of the Philippines Community Health and Development Program in partnership with the Municipality of San Juan, Batangas.

Five teams composed of medical, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech pathology students participated. They provided health services to families with complex health needs in the community. Their activities were: (1) orientation of the team, (2) choosing the patient and family, (3) patient and family engagement, (4) assessment and goal-setting, (5) patient and family intervention, and (6) monitoring of outcomes. Students completed a self-administered questionnaire exploring their (1) overall experience, (2) perceptions of the project's most and least useful aspects, and (3) recommendations for improvement. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses were performed.

Data showed high ratings of the experience. Themes on the useful aspect of the project were (1) learning about collaboration, (2) appreciation of roles, (3) holistic care, (4) service to the community, and (5) unique learning experience. Themes on the least useful aspects were (1) coordination requirement, (2) patient management, (3) program structure, and (4) community-setting limitations. Recommendations included improvements in communication, orientation, patient management, available resources and supervision.

The students' appreciation of the Family Case Management demonstrated the opportunity and challenges for IPE implementation in the Philippines.