Learning Together: A Mixed Methods Study of Interprofessional Mental Health Simulation in Undergraduate Medical and...

Interprofessional education (IPE) involves learners from two or more health professions creating a collaborative learning environment. With the growing use of simulation in medical education, interprofessional simulated learning (IPSL) has had increasing focus on its role in interdisciplinary collaboration, especially in the undergraduate setting.

This mixed methods study was conducted across two universities in South West England, incorporating Year 5 medical students and Year 3 nursing students. The IPSL experience was designed as three different simulation scenarios focusing on the assessment and management of mental health (MH) patients, with an emphasis on interprofessional collaboration. Study participants were asked to complete pre-session and post-session questionnaires with Likert scale and free-text questions used to collect the quantitative and qualitative data. The information collected related to students' confidence in working with MH patients and working with each other.

Twenty-nine final-year healthcare students (19 nursing, 10 medical) from two universities participated in a single-day mental health interprofessional learning (IPL) simulation. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests demonstrated significant improvements from pre- to post-intervention for six of the seven items (all p ≤ 0.001), with median increases ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 Likert points. Qualitative data analysis generated four main themes: working collaboratively, understanding professional roles and skill sets, confidence in managing mental health problems, and improving communication.

Our research aligns with current literature regarding the importance of IPE within healthcare. In particular, this study highlights the value of IPSL in increasing student confidence in working with other healthcare professionals and understanding their roles within the clinical setting. Further additional research is required to review the use of IPSL in undergraduate medical and nursing degrees and its role in evaluation of mental health conditions in adult medicine.

This study has shown that interprofessional learning through the form of mental health simulation can improve healthcare students' confidence in managing acute MH crisis, understanding of professionals' roles and collaborative working.