Readiness of allied health students towards interprofessional education at a university in Ghana

Abstract

Background. Interprofessional education (IPE) is an important academic approach for preparing healthcare students to provide patient care in a collaborative team environment, which improves patient care outcomes and increases patient satisfaction. IPE has been shown to eliminate segmented education between healthcare professionals, and thus renounces hierarchies, misperceptions and miscommunications. Objectives. To determine the readiness of allied health students towards IPE. Methods. This was a cross-sectional study that involved 299 second- to fourth-year allied health students recruited from various departments at the University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana. The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale was used to obtain data regarding readiness of allied health students towards IPE. Data obtained were analysed using SPSS version 22 (IBM Corp., USA). Differences between groups based on the levels and programmes of study, respectively, were determined using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results. The majority of participants ( n =155; 67.7%) had previous experience in the health environment. The overall response of allied health students’ readiness towards IPE was high. This readiness did not differ between the different levels of study ( p =0.985) and the various programmes of study ( p =0.726). Conclusion. The study revealed that allied health students value teamwork and collaboration and appear ready for participation in IPE activities. Formatively planning IPE activities may be helpful in developing multidisciplinary teamwork.