Barriers and Facilitators for Interprofessional Education in Work-Focused Healthcare: An Integrative Review.
Elmi Zwaan, Nina Zipfel, Wietske Kuijer-Siebelink and 2 others
PMID 39988638WHAT IT FOUND
Only seven studies examined interprofessional education for work-focused healthcare.
Facilitators included skilled educators, practical site visits, and reflection time. Barriers were lack of organizational support, time constraints, and misunderstanding roles. One trial showed no improvement in collaboration or patient outcomes.
Key findings
01A trial training general practitioners and occupational physicians to use a collaboration protocol found no significant difference in contact between professions or in patient pain and disability, with the control group having significantly shorter sick leave.
02Facilitators for interprofessional education included involvement of skilled educators, opportunities for interaction and reflection, and hands-on site visits; barriers included time constraints, lack of organizational support, and misunderstanding of other professionals' roles.
03A four-day program for general practitioners and occupational physicians increased trust immediately after the activity, but trust levels three months later were not different from before the activity.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only seven studies were included, limiting the generalizability of the findings. The included studies varied widely in design and outcome measures, making direct comparison difficult. Most outcomes were self-reported and focused on learning levels (satisfaction, attitudes) rather than patient health or system outcomes. One included study was rated as low methodological quality, and its unique findings (e.g., personal qualifications as facilitators) should be interpreted with caution. The review only included studies in English, Dutch, or German, which may introduce language bias.
Declared interests
The study was funded by ZonMw. No other conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that interprofessional education reliably improves return-to-work outcomes. The only study in this review that measured patient outcomes found no benefit for the intervention group, and the control group had significantly shorter sick leave. Additionally, positive changes in attitudes and trust observed in some studies did not persist over time.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →