Interprofessionalism In Healthcare

Introduction In the health care field there are a wide range of professions that all have there own important purpose. With such a huge field it is hard to know everything and that is why these different professions exist. The problem with so many professions is that they don’t always communicate efficiently. This lack of communication is where interprofessional care comes in. Interprofessional care is when people from different professions work together and communicate efficiently for the greater common good of the patient. A great aspect of interprofessional care is that it allows people from different disciplines to work together and learn from one another. Interprofessionalism allows people to come together, but that is not its only goal.
Interprofessionalism has many goals and elements when it comes to healthcare. Some of the goals that it has are to learn teamwork skills, to learn how to communicate efficiently, to teach you how to work towards common goals, and to teach you respect and understanding for other health care professions. Those are just some of the goals and elements but the main ones are communication and teamwork. Teamwork and communication play such essential roles because they can ultimately lead to further improving the quality of care by having multiple disciplines assess a patient and through communication determining the best plan of care. Since the best plan of care is better determined by multiple professionals from multiple discipline this makes interprofessionalism very important in patient-centered care.
To truly understand the importance of interprofessionalism one must experience it first hand, and witness how much of a greater impact multiple disciplines, working simultaneously towards the same goal, can make in that patients life. Another great aspect of interprofessionalism in patient-centered care is that it allows people from different professions to have a greater understanding of the duties that each individual has, and allows them to practice the different traits with one
another. A good example of an activity designed for students to promote interprofessionalism would be to work alongside an occupational therapist and see how they differ from us and how both disciplines can affect the same person in such different ways. For example a patient recovering from a knee surgery, an occupational therapist would teach them how to go up and down stairs and a physical therapist would teach them prolonged standing and balance. There are many health care professions in the world, but one that many people consider closest to a Physical Therapist (PT) or Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) and Occupational Therapy (OT) or Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA).
Occupational Therapists are in the field of lifespan which means that there main focus is to help people accomplish daily activities through therapeutic exercise. There main types of patients are children with disabilities, that the help participate fully in a school setting, or older people who have suffered from physical or cognitive changes. While PT and OT are very similar they are also very similar, and this is why OTs and PTs usually work interprofessionally to allow the patient to achieve a full
recovery. PTs and OTs are very similar in that they work in the same kinds of field (such as outpatient facilities, inpatient facilities, hospitals, etc.) and that the main goal of both professions have the same goal of improving the quality of life in there patients. Not only are the similar in those aspects but also they are very different in the type of therapy that they provide. The therapy that a PT provides has more to do with improving impairment but while also increasing mobility. The therapy that an OT provides therapy that helps patients overcome everyday tasks with there impairment. For me personally I would attempt to work with other professions in an interprofessional manner, but at the end of the day I will need to be placed in that situation to see if that is where I truly belong. Possibly attempting to work in a hospital setting where I can interact with other professions and see how they work, or in a clinic that has multiple professions within it to accommodate its patients. As for whether I would consider it a positive experience or a negative experience, I would have to say it would be a positive experience because even if I truly disliked it and I wasn’t happy I know that I tried it and could honestly say it wasn’t for me. On the other aspect of that it could also end up being a positive experience because I would get to witness first hand how so many disciplines could do so many different jobs on one patient for the greater common good of that patient, which at the end of the day why most people are in this profession to begin with. In conclusion I cannot wait to get started as a PTA and explore all the possible options this world has to offer. I want to be able to make a difference in peoples lives, no matter how big or small that difference is. I believe if you are in any health care field for the money and are not there to make a difference in one way or another than you are just wasting time because this is a profession that goes much deeper than materialistic things. I have truly grown to appreciate what I have been given, because the little things we take for granted in life are the things that someone is dying to have. References
AOTA. (2016). What is Occupational Therapy? Retrieved from http://www.aota.org/conference-events/otmonth/what-is-ot.aspx
Bridges, D. (2011, April 8). Interprofessional collaboration: three best practice models of interprofessional education. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3081249/
CBD College. (2014, July 14). PHYSICAL THERAPY ASSISTANT VS. OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTANT. Retrieved from http://www.cbd.edu/physical-therapy-assistant-vs-occupational-therapy-assistant/
Legare, F. (2010, August 26). Interprofessionalism and shared decision-making in primary care: a stepwise approach towards a new model: Journal of Interprofessional Care: Vol 25, No 1. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/13561820.2010.490502?scroll=top&needAccess=true
OTA Blogger. (2014, April 2). Occupational Therapy vs. Physical Therapy—What’s the difference? Retrieved from http://otaonline.stkate.edu/blog/occupational-therapy-vs-physical-therapy-whats-difference/
Weaver, H. (2016). Interprofessional Teamwork. Retrieved from https://www.ttuhsc.edu/qep/teamwork.aspx