In your journey to educate the next generation of health care providers about the importance of oral health integration, you will adopt multiple approaches. So far, you’ve read about Online Learning and Simulation Learning in this toolkit. This chapter will add to those methods by outlining two case-based didactic learning sessions. These may be offered together or independently. The first was designed for pre-licensure students with some clinical training. The second requires no prior knowledge.
In each session, you will ask students from a variety of professions to analyze selected case studies together. This interprofessional activity will help students prepare for collaborative practice and patient-centered care in the area of integrated oral health.
Each session includes the following sections.
Topic | Interprofessional team-based care |
Target Audience | Social Work, Medicine, Occupational Therapy, Nutrition and Dietetics, Dentistry |
Academic Focus | Clinical skills |
Target IPEC Competencies | Domain: Values/Ethics
Work in cooperation with those who receive care, those who provide care, and others who contribute to or support the delivery of prevention and health services. Domain: Teams and Teamwork Engage other health professionals—appropriate to the specific care situation—in shared patient-centered problem-solving. |
Target HRSA Competencies | Domain: Interprofessional Collaborative Practice
Exchange meaningful information among health care providers to identify and implement appropriate, high quality care for patients, based on comprehensive evaluations and options available within the local health delivery and referral system. Apply interprofessional practice principles that lead to safe, timely, efficient, effective, equitable planning and delivery of patient and population-centered oral health care. |
Learning Objectives | Discuss with team members each profession’s role in assessing, addressing, and improving a patient’s overall health.
Develop an interprofessional plan of care including, but not limited to, a referral for preventive and restorative dental services. |
Overview for instructors. The purpose of this didactic session is to provide students with the opportunity to learn about the roles and responsibilities of colleagues from other health professions. During the session, students will break into groups and teams to develop a plan of care for the case study patient, Terry.
Terry’s case integrates oral health with overall health, so if possible, instructors should incorporate dental, dental hygiene, or dental therapy students into each group to assist with oral health content.
Materials provided in this toolkit.
Additional materials needed.
Instructor preparation.
Student preparation. Before the start of the didactic session, students must:
Schedule.
This didactic session will take an hour or more, depending on the number of participants.
Introduction (10 minutes). Review the learning objectives and purpose of the session. Ask students to identify themselves by hand as you note which professions are represented in the class. Then ask a student volunteer from each profession to read his or her roles and responsibilities aloud.
Review the case study (10 minutes). Break students into groups by profession. Each group should have no more than five or six members. Then ask all students to read the case study for Terry silently.
Note: If you prefer to review the case study as a full class, paste key points in PowerPoint slides for reference.
Intraprofessional groups (15 minutes). After everyone has reviewed the case study, ask students to take 15 minutes to work with the other members of their profession to answer the questions on the handout, Intraprofessional Group Questions. Each group should select one member to record the group’s answers.
Once all groups have completed the handout, ask the students to use an index card to comment anonymously on the following statement.
I felt my contributions to my professional group were valued.
In their comments, students should:
When all students have completed this exercise, collect the index cards and disband the groups.
Interprofessional teams (15 minutes). Ask students to reorganize themselves into interprofessional teams and assign each team a letter name (e.g., Team A, Team B, Team C). If possible, each team should consist of at least one representative from each profession participating in the session.
Now, ask the students to work with their new team members to answer the questions on the handout Interprofessional Team Questions. Each team should select one member to record the team’s answers.
Once all groups have completed the handout, ask the students to use an index card to comment anonymously on the following statement.
I felt my contributions to the interprofessional team were valued.
In their comments, students should:
When the students have completed this exercise, collect the index cards and disband the teams.
Explain to students that you will review their index cards to help plan future interprofessional education activities.
Discussion (20 minutes). Encourage students to share their care plans and their reactions to the exercise.To prompt discussion, ask the following questions.
Note: This didactic session was pilot tested with an interprofessional group of students from five professions: social work, medicine, occupational therapy, nutrition, and dentistry. Accordingly, the case study and questions used in this session were tailored for these professions. Feel free to adapt this session to meet the needs of students from a different mix of professions.
Topic | Teamwork and Communication in Health Care |
Target Audience | Pharmacy, Nursing, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology |
Academic Focus | Clinical skills |
Target IPEC Competencies | Domain: Teams and Teamwork
Describe the process of team development and the roles and practices of effective teams. Reflect on individual and team performance for individual, as well as team, performance improvement. |
Target HRSA Competencies | Domain: Interprofessional Collaborative Practice
Exchange meaningful information among health care providers to identify and implement appropriate, high quality care for patients, based on comprehensive evaluations and options available within the local health delivery and referral system. |
Learning Objectives | Understand the terminology and concepts of interprofessional education and collaborative practice.
Consider how collaborative practice can increase provision of comprehensive oral health services. |
Overview for instructors. The purpose of this didactic session is to introduce students to the concepts of interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Instructors will use two case studies to highlight the specific teamwork and communication skills individuals need to work effectively on an interprofessional health care team. Each case study uses little to no medical or dental terminology to embed oral health. As a result, this session is ideal for pre-licensure health sciences students with no clinical training.
Materials provided in this toolkit.
Instructor Preparation.
Note: The survey portion of the Pre- and Post-Session Assessment Questionnaire is taken from the TeamSTEPPS® Teamwork Attitudes Questionnaire, which looks at five core components of teamwork. TeamSTEPPS was developed jointly by the Department of Defense and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to improve the quality and safety of patient care. To learn more about the system, which includes a full curriculum and other resources, visit TeamSTEPPS.
Schedule.
This session will take approximately one hour, depending on the number of participants.
Pre-assessment (2–5 minutes). Ask students to complete the pre-session portion of the Pre- and Post-Session Assessment Questionnaire as they arrive.
Introduction (5 minutes). Review the learning objectives and purpose of the session. Ask students to identify themselves by hand as you note the professions represented in class. Then, ask a student volunteer from each profession to read the roles and responsibilities for his or her profession aloud.
Discussion of pre-session assignment (10 minutes). The purpose of this assignment is to provide students with a real-world example of substandard health care delivery.
Ask student volunteers to share their answers to the questions in the Pre-Session Assignment: Teamwork and Communication in Health Care. Use the following notes to enhance discussion for each question.
If necessary, guide students toward an understanding of the ways better communication and teamwork could have resulted in the more timely care needed to save Deamonte’s life.
Smiles for Life Course 1: The Relationship of Oral to Systemic Health PowerPoint slides 30–34 (10 minutes). This portion of Smiles for Life Course 1: The Relationship of Oral to Systemic Health introduces the concepts of interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Take time to read the definition of each and point out that the purpose of this didactic session is to prepare students for collaborative practice.
Case study for Jill (10 minutes). Break students into interprofessional teams of five or six. If possible, place one student from each profession on each team.
Instruct students to read Jill’s case study silently, then answer the questions as a team. One student should take notes and be prepared to discuss the team’s answers.
Use the following notes to enhance discussion generated by the questions.
Case study for Mr. Jones (10 minutes).
Option 1
Ask students to form new teams with at least one person from each profession present on each team. Teams should designate one person to take notes and report on team findings. After the students have formed teams, direct them to read the case study for Mr. Jones silently, then answer the questions as a team.
Option 2
Ask students to remain with their present teams but designate a new person to take notes and report findings. Direct students to read the case study for Mr. Jones silently, then answer the questions as a team.
Use the following notes to enhance discussion generated by the questions.
Wrap-up (5 minutes).
To facilitate a wrap-up discussion, ask students the following questions.
To close the session, summarize the following points for your students.
Post-assessment (2–5 minutes). Ask students to complete the post-session portion of the Pre- and Post-Session Assessment Questionnaire before they leave. Impress upon them the value of their feedback in helping you hone the session for future students.
Note: This didactic session was pilot tested with an interprofessional group of first-year pharmacy, nursing, and speech-language pathology and audiology students. Accordingly, the case study and questions used in this session were tailored for these professions. Feel free to adapt this session to meet the needs of students from a different mix of professions.