Book Review: Building a Patient – Centered Interprofessional Education Program

By | 22nd October 2020

Image of a medical teaam in graphic form

Building a Patient – Centered Interprofessional Education Program

Edited by Steven D. Waldman and Stephanie Bowlin
Hershey PA, IGI Global
2020
371 pages
ISBN: 9781799830665

Review by Joslin Blench, Department of Psychology, Concordia University of Edmonton

Building a Patient – Centered Interprofessional Education Program is a practical reference source of academic articles focusing on the undergraduate and graduate curriculum development by healthcare educators for healthcare professionals; such as doctors, nurses, dentists, chiropractors, physiotherapists, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, and others; as well as strategies to tackle barriers and biases that are currently in their designated healthcare profession. The goal of the book is to express the importance of collaboration between healthcare professionals with varying backgrounds and educate budding professionals on how to incorporate this into their practice so that strong teams can develop, making patient care more efficient and united.

The articles are organized by chapter and each discuss important strategies for Interprofessional Education (IPE) and current limitations of IPE in different areas of the healthcare field, ranging from the history of IPE to discussing 8 simple strategies for handling unconscious biases, to effective team building. There are two key underlying principles that flow through the whole book; one being the interprofessional identity domains (ethics and values, roles and responsibilities, interprofessional communication, teams and teamwork) and two, the quadruple aim in patient care (patient experience, population health, reducing costs, and care team well-being) that connects the chapters and promotes the importance of teamwork. Each chapter begins with an abstract so the reader can get an overview of the chapter’s topic, as well as a list of resources the authors used, allowing readers to continue learning about a topic outside of the chapter.

The concept of collaboration between different departments of healthcare professionals is a relatively current idea brought forward. In previous decades, there were obvious divides between professions and a clear unwillingness to work together or encourage patients to seek other health fields. This lack of cohesiveness creating difficulty with patients who had more than one health care professional aiding them in their journey to better health, and often came with conflicting treatments or referrals, frustrating patients.

Patient care is an international concern and the information in this book can be used internationally as all healthcare professionals should strive to provide the best patient care they are able to in their situation. While some countries may have their primary focus on just being able to supply simple medical care to patients, keeping in mind the concept of teamwork can still be beneficial as it can be time effective and create ease when treating patients.

Overall, the collection of articles provide functional strategies for creating interpersonal relationships within the healthcare industry, along with providing practical tools to use when doing curriculum development for future healthcare professionals. Building the concepts brought about in this book into the classroom setting is the first step to a better healthcare system. I would recommend this reading to anyone creating a healthcare curriculum or leading a team in the healthcare field.