Internationally, and in Australia, inter-professional learning (IPL), collaboration and teamwork are becoming essential in health care delivery and are core to delivering patient-centred care (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2010). Education programs to train workforce capacity in key aspects of inter-professional practice, including teamwork and collaboration skills, are required to meet future health care demands (WHO, 2010). The proposed initiative supports IPL, enabling students to approach community wellbeing from different professional lenses, providing the opportunity to work with and within the community to support wellbeing.
This presentation will describe a sustainable and scalable model of IPL based on co-design principles with industry. Our industry partners have previously identified gaps in new graduates’ skills that are needed for work readiness. These are often the soft skills, including governance, leadership, communication, and teamwork. The model involves inter-professional teams of students and academics from across the university collectively working with industry to develop innovative solutions to support industry identified issues.
In addition to strengthening industry partnerships, this model offers specific institutional opportunities including the increase in non-traditional placements and promotion of the University’s reputation for its enthusiasm for producing job-ready graduates. Students will be provided with opportunities for community-engaged learning in ways that value and respect them as partners in the learning process, as members of the University's academic community, and as ambassadors to the wider world.
A short video will demonstrate the mutual benefits of a 6-week IPL placement in aged care. We will also demonstrate how students develop an understanding of the broad scope of work in aged care and the career opportunities within the sector.
Australian Government Department of Health. (2018). A matter of care Australia’s aged care workforce strategy taskforce. https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/a-matter-of-care-australia-s-aged-care-workforce-strategy.pdf
World Health Organization. (2010). Framework for action on interprofessional education & collaborative practice.