The Creation of an Interprofessional Education (IPE) Strategy Utilising a Delphi Method.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Interprofessional Collaboration
• Curriculum Development

Background:

• Regulatory bodies increasingly mandate interprofessional education (IPE) in undergraduate healthcare programs.
• Existing IPE Core Competencies and Guidelines lack practical implementation guidance, creating a gap for educators.
• A need exists for tools to translate theoretical IPE frameworks into actionable practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a practical interprofessional education (IPE) strategy to overcome implementation barriers.
• To provide a clear roadmap for integrating IPE into undergraduate healthcare curricula.
• To translate existing IPE competencies into actionable strategic statements.

Main Methods:

• A three-round E-Delphi methodology was employed.
• An expert panel refined 24 initial strategic statements derived from IPE competencies.
• Consensus was established at 80% agreement, with thematic analysis of qualitative feedback.

Main Results:

• The study involved 41-43 participants across three E-Delphi rounds.
• The initial 24 strategic statements evolved into 28 finalized statements.
• Consensus levels ranged from 74.29% to 100%, with participant retention rates of 85.4%, 67.4%, and 62.7%.

Conclusions:

• The E-Delphi method effectively facilitated consensus and enhanced the relevance of IPE strategic development.
• The developed IPE strategy offers a practical roadmap for implementation in healthcare education.
• Further investigation into the scalability and long-term impact of this IPE strategy is recommended.