New study demonstrates impact of interprofessional collaboration on health sciences education and practice
August 26, 2024
Faculty member Ashley Halle quoted in article about USC's Interprofessional Education and Collaboration for Geriatrics program on education and care for complex health care needs of older adults.
Chan in the Media Clinical Community and Partners Health and Wellness Students
By Michele Carroll / USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
One of the values of the IECG program is that students learn essential cross-disciplinary skills and assessments they can provide to patients in their own clinical practices. They also learn about other health sciences-based disciplines they may work with throughout their careers. This is particularly important for professions that are traditionally practiced in isolation from other health care disciplines, such as physical therapy or occupational therapy. This training gives students the confidence to accurately assess their patients’ additional health care needs. Knowing when to consult with colleagues from multiple disciplines can be critical to early intervention in patient care, such as mental health issues or pharmacological side effects or reactions.
“From a population health perspective, as our population continues to live longer, providers increasingly will be working with older adults, and this work needs to be interprofessional to be effective,” said Ashley Halle, study co-author and associate professor of clinical occupational therapy at USC Chan.
A distinctive aspect of the IECG program is its focus on the whole patient, including their physical and social environment. Social determinants of health have been found to be responsible for up to 80% of health outcomes and are a growing primary focus of health care practice. This statistic illustrates the importance of fully understanding the complete picture of a patient’s life when assessing and treating their health conditions, and the importance of interprofessional training and practice. However, the majority of health care services are currently delivered in clinical or hospital settings where providers do not always have direct access to information about a patient’s social factors and daily living conditions. For this reason, there is a specific emphasis on home visitation in the IECG program. This provides an opportunity for students to see how clinical recommendations actually play out within the patient’s daily life, environment and circumstances.
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