Building Competency in Diabetes Education THE ESSENTIALS

2-12 | CHAPTER 2

COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE

With the increasing complexity of health-care needs for people with diabetes, it is becoming more evident that patients require multiple services delivered by a coordinated health-care team (29,30). Terms, such as “multidisciplinary”, have been used for many years to describe

the use of health-care professionals (HCP) from different disciplines working with the patients. A newer initiative that implies a much greater degree of interaction and a more integrated team is referred to as interprofessional collaborative practice (ICP). ICP has been shown to improve health outcomes through a partnership between a team of health-care providers and a client in a participatory, collaborative and coordinated approach to

“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” (35).

“shared decision making” (29,31-34,27-30). Previously, we had been delivering fragmented care; each HCP doing “their part” (35). In collaborative practice, we work together. We see patients together, we share our knowledge, our skills and respect the contribution of each discipline, working towards a mutually decided upon goal. Descriptions, such as “synergistic influence of grouped knowledge and skills”, and “blending of professional cultures” have been used to explain the integrated approach in ICP (31-36).

The benefits to ICP include (32,33,35,36): • More accessible care. • Improved outcomes for people with chronic illness. • Less conflict with caregivers and care teams.

• Better use of clinical resources. • Easier recruitment of caregivers. • Greater staff satisfaction.

Collaborative practice may be introduced and developed differently for each health-care system. However, there is agreement that interprofessional education (IPE) is a starting point to foster the growth and acceptance of collaborative practice (34-36). The Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative has outlined six competency domains they consider essential in all IPE (34):