Improving Interprofessional Collaboration Between Social Work and Pharmacy Through Hybrid and Virtual Learning...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Interprofessional Practice
• Collaborative Care

Background:

• Pharmacy and social work professions are complementary yet rarely collaborate directly in patient care.
• Interprofessional team collaboration significantly improves patient health and wellbeing outcomes.
• Educational opportunities for interprofessional practice enhance student learning and professional readiness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate an interprofessional education activity for pharmacy and social work students.
• To assess the impact of collaborative case studies on integrative student learning.
• To compare the effectiveness of hybrid versus fully online learning platforms for interprofessional education.

Main Methods:

• A case study-based interprofessional education activity was designed and implemented.
• Pharmacy and social work students from Hawai'i and Guam participated.
• The Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (20-item pre-post format) was used for evaluation.
• Mean evaluation scores were compared between hybrid and fully online delivery formats.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant improvements in Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey scores were observed across all questions and domains (P<.001).
• Fully online training resulted in significantly higher post-domain scores compared to hybrid training.
• Evaluation scores were high and comparable or superior in the fully online format versus hybrid formats.

Conclusions:

• The interprofessional case-based activity effectively promoted interprofessional learning and collaboration among students.
• Early exposure to collaborative practice in educational settings is crucial for future workforce collaboration.
• Fully online interprofessional education can be as effective, if not more so, than hybrid models.