A Pilot Interprofessional Education Curriculum for Optimizing Mental Health in Chronic Pain Treatment and...

With the urgent need for clinicians capable of responding to the opioid crisis, an interprofessional education (IPE) pilot curriculum was launched to assess trainee self-efficacy in managing chronic pain and mental health conditions, and attitudes toward interprofessional practice among resident physicians, family nurse practitioners (FNP), and physician assistant (PA) students.

This study involved the implementation of a pilot curriculum consisting of five interactive IPE sessions. All invited trainees across two academic institutions were asked to complete the assessments. Self-efficacy in managing chronic pain and mental health was measured at baseline and following IPE training using a researcher-developed tool, while attitudes toward interprofessional practice were measured with the Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams scale. Resident physicians were compared to FNP/PA students to examine differences between groups and within groups over time.

The final analysis involved 25 trainees who attended at least one IPE training session and completed pre-session and post-session surveys. The total pre-session survey and post-session survey response rate was 37.5% (n=36). Self-efficacy in chronic pain management improved among the resident physician (mean=3.85 ±0.40) and FNP/PA groups (mean=3.84±0.46) (p=0.05 and p=0.001), respectively. Self-efficacy in mental health management was not significantly improved among resident physicians (mean=3.41±0.49, p=0.48), but improved among FNP/PA students (mean=3.46±0.31, p<0.001). There was no difference in attitudes toward interprofessional practice.

While IPE training did not result in attitudinal changes toward interprofessional practice, it shows potential for improving self-efficacy in managing chronic pain and mental health, particularly among FNP/PA trainees. This study was limited by a small sample size of trainees included in the final analysis.