IPE Workplace Learning

Workplace Learning Principles and Guidelines for University of Toronto IPE Curriculum

The IPE Workplace Learning Principles was developed by a working group composed of CACHE, members of our Interfaculty Curriculum Committee (IFCC) and IPE Leaders Networks, learners, persons with lived experiences and their care partners. These principles will guide the development and implementation of the IPE workplace learning activities of the University of Toronto IPE Curriculum and we invite other academic and practice partners to utilize and adapt (with reference to this document) for their contexts.

Glossary of Terms

IPE

“Interprofessional education occurs when students from two or more professions learn about, from and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes.” (WHO, 2010)

Collaborative practice

“Collaborative practice happens when multiple health workers from
different professional backgrounds work together with patients, families, carers and communities to deliver the highest quality of care.” (WHO, 2010)

Person(s)

“Person” and “persons” instead of “patient,” “client,” or “community member.” We are aligning our terminology with the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative Competency Framework for Advancing Collaboration and using “person(s)” to emphasize that all members of a healthcare team are equal participants with equally valuable contributions to make. (CIHC, 2024)

Care partner(s)

By “care partners,” we refer to the friends, family members, and loved ones who provide informal—often unpaid—care and support to persons participating in or receiving care/service. (CIHC, 2024)

Service partner(s)

Individuals (including health or social care providers) who promote health, prevent or address health or social challenges. (CIHC, 2024)

Learners

Students and trainees who are learning to be service partners. Typically learners are at a pre-licensure stage of their education and training.

Team

A group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

[Reference] Teams may be co-located or distributed across organizations and systems. They are fluid in terms of membership to meet the unique needs of persons and care partners as well as the needs of service partners, organizations and systems.

Relationship focused care/services

All members of the team collaborate and foster purposeful relationships among and between care/service partners and persons participating in or receiving care/services. (CIHC, 2024)

Situated learning

Most effective when it occurs within authentic, real-world contexts and through social interaction and participation in communities of practice. (Lave & Wenger, 1991)

Definition of IPE workplace learning

Interprofessional Education (IPE) workplace learning is an integrated learning approach to enhance collaborative practice. Learners who are developing competencies to be service partners engage in collaborative learning about, from and with each other, persons, care and service partners in the practice setting. Learning is often enhanced by skilled facilitation. IPE workplace learning is integrated into the IPE Curriculum at the University of Toronto and supported by the Interfaculty Curriculum Committee (IFCC), the IPE Leaders Network (IPELs), the Centre for Advancing Collaboration in Health Care and Education (CACHE), academic and practice partners.

Workplace learning can enable learners to:

Reflect on collaborative practice as a means to improve the experience and health outcomes of persons and their care partners
Develop an understanding of and appreciation for the expertise that each service partner brings to collaborative team-based practice
Apply collaborative competencies through workplace learning in real-world contexts
Foster relationships and wellbeing amongst learners and service/care partners

Principles of IPE workplace learning

Situated in practice
Learning typically occurs in real-world environments and/or having practice-based contributors within the context of health or social care. The setting is relevant to learners and their daily activities as defined by their scope of practice. Attention to team-based care situations and dynamics allows learners to explore clinical reasoning together and engage in shared decision-making.

Experiential learning
Learners gain skills through participation in real-life and simulated clinical experiences. Learners are encouraged to connect the knowledge and theories learned in the classroom environment and apply it to real-world situations.

Based on competencies for collaborative care
Learning is grounded in the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative Competency Framework for Advancing Collaboration (CIHC, 2024) which highlights the domains of: team communication, relationship focused care/services, team functioning, role clarification and negotiation, team disagreements, and collaborative leadership. The competencies are a resource that highlight the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that together shape the judgments and behaviours that are essential for team-based collaborative practice.

Emphasizes relationship-focused care/services and team communication
All competencies are interdependent, however for IPE workplace learning, we often give emphasis to relationship-focused care/services and team communication. Collaborative care is rooted in the relationships formed amongst team members, inclusive of persons and their care partners. Persons who have participated in or received care/service and/or their care partners often bring their lived experience to IPE in the workplace. Learners need to communicate with each other and members of the team in a cooperative, responsive, and respectful manner while paying attention to both the content and the relational elements of communication.

Conducive to sharing diverse perspectives
Learners communicate and collaborate with a variety of other learners, service partners, persons and their care partners who each have diverse viewpoints. This diversity enriches the learning experience and helps the learners develop a more comprehensive understanding of team-based care through learning about, from and with each other.

Includes purposeful reflection
Learners engage in intentional reflective practice and reflexivity by analyzing their experiences, challenging their assumptions, identifying areas for growth, and refining their approaches to teamwork and relationship focused care/services. This ongoing reflection and critical reflection strengthens their ability to navigate complex interprofessional dynamics, make informed decisions, consider power relations/inequities and how all these factors shape collaboration in future practice. Reflection is guided by the CIHC Competency Framework to reinforce learning and continuous improvement.

Facilitated
IPE in the workplace can be self-directed however it is often facilitated by care partners, education leaders, persons participating in or receiving care/service and learners. Facilitation can deepen reflection on the value of collaborative practice and foster learner understanding and readiness to be part of an effective healthcare team. Skilled facilitators give attention to the interprofessional learning climate and process. Facilitated dialogue can address practice issues and encourage advocacy and imagining system change.