module specification

The Module introduces the student to the principles of inter-professional practice and offers the opportunity to apply these concepts to their own practice context. The Module uses blended learning in order to develop a range of skills and competencies for effective professional practice.

Module Aims

To provide an opportunity for students of health & social care, public health & associated disciplines to explore key theory, policy and practice elements of inter-professional practice from a user centred perspective.  

To enable students to experience in a highly interactive way, inter-professional practice and organisational management in order to inform present and future practice.

To develop students’ capability to reflect upon their own experiences of inter-professional practice and explore both factors that influence this, including resource constraints and the ethical bases across the different professional groups and to see how common values may underpin effective practice.

To locate the changing nature of organisations and evaluate the implications for effective inter-professional working within a theoretical framework.

The integration of health and social care organisations has changed the employment base for many professionals and has increased the need for understanding and collaboration between the professions. Practitioners working within the field of Health and Social Care in both the statutory, voluntary and independent sectors work within a range of inter-professional teams, organisations, networks and systems in order to offer an improved service to service users. Inter-professional working requires practitioners to be able to learn and work together in order to overcome the potential constraints arising from different professional and organisational accountabilities, cultures, values and professional codes of conduct. The syllabus will cover relevant theory, policy, practice and ethical issues. Definitions of inter-professional and inter-disciplinary practice will be explored, alongside students' own reflections on past experiences. Models of health and social care, social values and professional codes, cultures and user rights and needs will be discussed, as will professional stereotypes. The impact of health and social care policy and organisational issues will be explored in relation to users and carers of services and financial aspects of working together. Skills, competencies and underpinning values will be addressed throughout and include communication, risk management, confidentiality, and accountability and shared accountability regarding integrated care. As part of the process, students undertake small and large group work so some aspects of group and team dynamics will be explored in order to facilitate reflective and experiential learning. All LO1-5

The module teaching is based on weekly lectures and seminar classes, where specific group-work exercises have been developed to provide students with an opportunity to examine in more detail some of the main conceptual and methodological issues covered in lectures.

The approach to teaching is based on facilitating the application of concepts, methods and principles to practice-related contexts, and students’ integration of learning in relation to real world scenarios. This approach to teaching aims to develop students’ ability to think critically about data and evidence, and to draw appropriate inferences in accordance with the stated learning outcomes.

The above teaching methods will be complemented by students’ independent study on the module. Students will be required to read, on a weekly basis, recommended chapters in the core textbook, or to access other relevant educational material.

The module will be using WebLearn - guidance will be given during the module about how to best use this. It is designed to support students learning providing access to wider reading and resources to help to prepare for each session e.g. websites, policy documents and articles and or to revise and deepen knowledge after sessions e.g. lecture notes. Students are encouraged to use other learning resources such as the Library and Academic Mentors and WebLearn.

On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

1. Identify and demonstrate skills necessary for inter-professional including communication, networking, team working and ethical decision making.

2. Discuss the central concepts of inter-professional practice and inter-professional working and be able to apply them to their own practice context.

3. Evaluate how different policies, professional codes, organisational frameworks and approaches impact on inter-professional practice with stakeholders, users and carers within a context of policy change.

4. Discuss critically the factors that promote or hinder inter-professional practice, including vision, culture, equality and diversity, joint solutions, accountability, risk management, information sharing and confidentiality.

5. Reflect on personal and professional self-awareness and critically analyse their practice and assumptions.

The assessment comprises of TWO components:

1. The student is required to participate in an inter-professional class based meeting to demonstrate key aspects of effective inter-professional practice and self- awareness. (formative)

2. Complete a 3000 words report which has two parts:

Part A: a personal reflective account of your learning arising from the meeting and the module (500 words)  (Summative)

Part B: a critical review of relevant theory, policy and ethical issues in relation to the given report title covering organisational frameworks and inter-professional practice (2,500 words) (Summative)

Core Text:
LITTLECHILD, B., & SMITH, R. S. (2013). A handbook for inter-professional practice in the human services - learning to work together. Harlow, Pearson.(E-resource).
Additional:
ATWAL, A., & JONES, M. (2009). Preparing for Professional Practice in Health and Social Care. New York, NY, John Wiley & Sons. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-2014121712692.
BAILEY, D., 2012. Interdisciplinary working in mental health: from theory to practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
LEATHARD, A. (1994). Going inter-professional: working together for health and welfare. London, Routledge.
ROGERS, M., WHITAKER, D., EDMONDSON, D., & PEACH, D. (2017). Developing skills for social work practice. (E-resource)
QUINNEY, A., & HAFFORD-LETCHFIELD, T. (2012). Interprofessional Social Work: Effective Collaborative Approaches. https://nls.ldls.org.uk/welcome.html?ark:/81055/vdc_100025425888.0x000001.

Journals:

FAGEVIK-OLSEN, M., DEAN, E., MOFFAT, M., UMERAH, G., & BRUNO, S. (2015). “Best” Inter-Professional Practice in Healthcare. The International Journal of Health, Wellness, and Society. 5, 123-133.

MOLYNEAUX ,J .(2001) Inter-professional Team working: what makes teams work? Journal of Inter-professional Care  Vol 15 No 1 pp29-35

MORRISON, M., & GLENNY, G. (2012). Collaborative inter-professional policy and practice: in search of evidence. Journal of Education Policy. 27, 367-386.

POLLARD,K, THOMAS,J. & MIERS,M.(2010) "Understanding Inter-professional Working in Health and Social Care Theory and Practice", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 23 Issue: 3, https://doi-org.lmu.idm.oclc.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2010.06223cae.003

THISTLEWAITE,J.(2013) "Values-based Inter-professional Collaborative Practice – Working Together in Health Care", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 26 Issue: 4, https://doi-org.lmu.idm.oclc.org/10.1108/IJHCQA.06226daa.018