Students Practicing Interprofessional Collaboration in the Context of Hospice and Palliative Care

Care Seminar (IPC), held in the Midwest, involves students from disciplines of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work, and chaplaincy. The curriculum of the seminar incorporates asynchronous and synchronous didactic presentations, experiential learning through group exercises and discussion, along with home visits by students in interdisciplinary dyads.

The purpose of this study was to determine if students’ participation in a three-week interdisciplinary palliative care seminar would positively influence their socialization and value of interprofessional collaboration with the ultimate goal of developing skilled professionals who engage in interprofessional practice in hospice and palliative care settings.

This descriptive study invited participants to take a pre- and post-seminar online survey using the Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale-21 (ISVS-21) to assess shifts in students’ perceptions of interprofessional socialization and the value of collaborative healthcare practice. In their pre-and post-seminar scores 71 participants reported they more strongly agreed with all items on the ISVS-21 after completing the seminar.

The results from this study suggest the Interdisciplinary Palliative Care Seminar is an effective educational model for advancing the value of interprofessional socialization and collaborative practice in hospice and palliative care healthcare. This study supports the utility of an intense but relatively brief IPE endeavor. The IPC Seminar positively shifts student perceptions of professional collaborations and their ability to engage as a member of a team. The IPC Seminar’s measured positive impact on students, coupled with a relatively short intervention invites replication in other venues.

This study also adds to the body of knowledge regarding IPE interventions, with healthcare professions students related to the topic of hospice and palliative care. There is little published regarding this critical field of healthcare that requires professions to engage in interprofessional collaboration.