Collaborative competence, values, and ethics in interprofessional education and collaborative practice: findings from...

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Healthcare
• Medical Ethics

Background:

• Limited understanding of ethical competency development in interprofessional teamwork.
• Growing integration of Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice (IPECP) competencies into health curricula.
• Need to clarify how values/ethics are characterized and developed within IPECP.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review on the characterization and development of collaborative competence in values/ethics within IPECP.
• To understand researchers' recommendations for fostering ethical competence in interprofessional settings.
• To identify gaps and progress in ethical competency development in IPECP.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature search across nine databases.
• Inclusion of studies published between 2011 and 2025.
• Analysis of 52 selected studies on IPECP and ethical competencies.

Main Results:

• Identified a focus on Interprofessional Education Collaborative Practice (IPEC) Core Competences.
• Highlighted emphasis on specific values/ethics sub-competencies and conflicts arising from professional hierarchy.
• Documented diverse educational strategies employed for developing ethical competence.
• Noted challenges and progress in fostering ethical competence within IPECP.

Conclusions:

• Ethical competence development in IPECP requires targeted strategies addressing professional hierarchies and specific values.
• Further research is needed to overcome identified limitations in current IPECP ethical training.
• Progress has been made, but challenges persist in fully integrating and assessing ethical competencies in interprofessional healthcare education.