IPE Annual report 2012 - Health Sciences - Curtin University

2012
ANNUAL REPORT
INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES

INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
2012 ANNUAL REPORT
1. INTRODUCTION
The Faculty’s vision: International leaders in Interprofessional Education, building new health workforce models for the
future is in line with the University’s vision: Curtin will be a leading university in education and research serving its wider
region and its values: Integrity, Respect, Fairness and Care. 2012 has seen another significant increase in the education, practice
and research areas.
The most significant highlights for 2012 were the Interprofessional Practice Placement Program winning a national Office of
Learning and Teaching Award for ‘Programs that Enhance Learning’, and the broader Interprofessional Education Program
winning the inaugural International Best Practice Competition at the World Business Capability Congress held in Auckland,
New Zealand. This was included in the Vice Chancellor’s report to Council as “Interprofessional initiative wins global Best
Practice Competition: Curtin’s Faculty of Health Sciences has been awarded first place in the 1st International Best Practice
Competition at the World Business Capability Congress. The competition, which was held in New Zealand, is the first of its kind in
the world and the achievement marks an outstanding recognition for the University’s innovative approach to cross-collaboration in
its Health Sciences Faculty“
2. INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION REFERENCE GROUP
This reference group has been in existence for several years. Its revised remit in 2012 was to focus on strategic interprofessional
developments. Membership expanded to 30 people with a number of executives from the health industry joining representatives
from each of the schools within the Faculty and the teaching and learning team.
3. EDUCATION
Interprofessional education consisted of five ongoing areas of activity. Minor additions and improvements were made to: the
interprofessional first year curriculum, our suite of case based learning workshops for senior students, and the annual Health
Interprofessional Education (HIPE) Conference. The interprofessional aspects of the new medical curriculum, whilst at an earlier
stage of development than the other three areas, continue to take shape. Professional development was once again provided to
staff teaching in the first year curriculum, the case based workshops and in practice settings. Table 1 provides the total numbers of
participants in some of the ongoing activities for 2012. Each initiative is then discussed in more detail below.
EDUCATION ACTIVITY
STAFF
(UNIVERSITY & INDUSTRY)
STUDENTS
Table 1. Approximate total participants in key IPE activities in 2012.
COMBINED
(STAFF & STUDENTS)
Case based workshops 45 1038 -
Year 1 curriculum 196 2500 -
HIPE conference - - 255
TOTAL 241 3538 255
3.1 Interprofessional First Year Curriculum
The second year of the roll out of the Interprofessional First Year curriculum saw the benefits of experience and quality
improvement processes evidenced in a significant improvement in student satisfaction, with overall student satisfaction on
eVALUate exceeding the University target of 80% in 7 of 11 units in Semester 1 and 5 of the 11 units in Semester 2. Significantly
improved administrative processes also contributed to increased efficiencies that impacted positively on staff workloads. The
interprofessional experiences continue to be noted by both students and staff as a highlight of, and integral to, the success of the
curriculum. Interprofessional collaboration across the Faculty has strengthened enormously, with a noticeable positive cultural shift
related to enhanced cooperation, communication, and collaboration between key staff including the Coordinator First Year
Experience, faculty Course Coordinators, Heads of School, and Year 1 unit coordination team.
Student motivation to achieve the learning outcomes exceeded the target of 80% in 7 of 11 units in Semester 1 and Semester 2.
There was a particularly noticeable increase in student motivation compared to 2011 in the core unit Foundations for Professional
Health Practice, one of the key interprofessional units. This very pleasing result reflected the considerable collaboration between
staff to ensure maximum relevance of the unit content and learning experiences to students studying the wide range of courses in
the Faculty. This increase in the relevance and importance of the learning to the students’ personal and professional development
greatly enhanced their engagement in the core units.
Results from a sample of volunteer students who completed an online survey at the end of the year (n=149) that measured
students’ interprofessional attitudes and professional identity demonstrated identical trends as in previous years. Interprofessional
attitudes, as assessed on the University of West England Interprofessional Questionnaire (UWE), were positive for Communication

and Teamwork, Interprofessional Learning, and Interprofessional Relationships, and neutral for Interprofessional Interactions.
These results demonstrate first year university students’ positive views of interprofessional collaborations and of their own
teamwork and interprofessional relationship skills. It is particularly interesting that there is no statistically significant difference in
results on the UWE subscale scores for students who completed the survey at the end of 2010 (prior to the introduction of the
Interprofessional First Year curriculum) and those involved in the new curriculum.
Similar to previous years, students who were enrolled in profession specific courses (e.g. occupational therapy, nursing) reported
significantly higher levels of professional identity than those enrolled in non-profession specific courses (e.g. human biology
preclinical, health sciences). There is evidence of a small but statically significant difference in professional identity between the
sample of students surveyed in 2010 who undertook the previous curriculum and the students in 2012 who undertook the
Interprofessional First Year curriculum - the 2012 sample reported higher levels of professional identity. This is an important area
to continue to investigate as there have been some anecdotal concern that the new curriculum may be detrimental to students’
development of professional identity.
3.2 Case Based Learning Workshops
Five different case based learning workshops were delivered to third and fourth year students during 2012, some in semester 1
and all in semester 2. These focused on (1) the management of stroke and depression, (2) dementia, (3) dementia in a culturally
linguistically diverse context, (4) end of life dementia, and (5) working in partnership with Aboriginal Australians. A total of 1038
students from 10 disciplines completed the workshops as shown in Table 2:
DISCIPLINE TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS NUMBER OF FACILITATORS
Physiotherapy 118 7
Pharmacy 89 2
Nursing 260 2
Social Work 71 2
Psychology 74 2
Laboratory Medicine 32 1
Occupational Therapy 158 6
Health Information Management 39 1
Medical Imaging Science 60 3
Speech Pathology 108 2
Dietetics 29 1
Public Health - 5
Indigenous Facilitators - 6
TOTAL 1038 40
Table 2. Total participants in Case Based IPE Workshops in 2012.
The Stroke and Depression Workshop was delivered in both fully online plus blended (on line and face-to-face) options for 693
students (up from 347 students in 2011) in both semesters one and two. The disciplines which participated were Speech
Pathology, Pharmacy, Nursing, Medical Imaging Science, Laboratory Medicine, Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Social Work
and Physiotherapy.
The Dementia Workshop was delivered fully online to 219 students (similar to the 213 students in 2011). The disciplines which
participated were from Physiotherapy, Nursing, Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Health Information Management Medical
Imaging Science and Speech Pathology.
Funding was received from the WA Dementia Study Centre for two new dementia workshops which were piloted: (1) Dementia-
End of Life Workshop and (2) Dementia-Cultural and Linguistic Challenges. The End of Life Workshop was attended by 20
students from Physiotherapy, Nursing, Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Medical Imaging Science and Speech Pathology. The
Cultural and Linguistic Challenges workshop was attended by 58 students from Physiotherapy, Nursing, Psychology, Social Work,
Occupational Therapy, Medical Imaging Science and Speech Pathology.
In keeping with the Faculty’s focus on developing students’ awareness of Indigenous health issues a new workshop was
developed and delivered in partnership with several Indigenous staff from the university and Dennis Kickett, an Aboriginal Liaison
Officer from the WA Health Department. The workshop was delivered mainly face to face, with a small online component, to 48
students from Physiotherapy, Nursing, Psychology, Occupational Therapy and Medical Imaging Science. One of the highlights for

students was Dr Marion Kickett’s presentation on the history of Aboriginal people in Australia. To ensure the sustainability of this
element of the workshop an application was submitted for a Curtin e-scholar grant. Funding of $10,000 was awarded to support
the recording of Aboriginal peoples’ recollections of key events in WA history which will be built into an interactive learning tool for
students. Note: A short summary of the evaluation for this workshop is provided below. Specific evaluation was also undertaken
of a small number of initiatives. The Indigenous workshop was a key new development in 2012. All except one student who
participated in this experience provided both quantitative and qualitative feedback. The results in Figure 1 indicate that this
workshop was a very positive learning experience for the students.
1 I was provided with sufficient information to participate actively in this workshop
2 The instructions provided were adequate to meet my needs
3 Expectations of my participation were clearly specified
4 I was able to access the materials in the week one with little difficulty
5 The structure of the workshop was easy to follow
6 The authentic case study contributed to the affective appeal of the workshop
7 The web based learning environment held my interest in the week one of the workshop
8 I was provided with sufficient time to complete the learning activities
9 My understanding of IPE increased as a result of this workshop
10 My knowledge of strategies to facilitate working in partnership with Aboriginal Australians increased as a result of the
workshop
11 I have greater awareness of the factors to be considered when working with Aboriginal Australians
12 I was able to learn about other student's roles and responsibilities
13 I was able to learn about other students' perspectives on the subject matter of the workshop
14 It was easy to work collaboratively with the other students involved in my group in this learning environment
15 During the workshop I developed skills in joint planning and decision making with other health professionals
16 The role of the facilitator was clearly specified
17 The facilitator's input added value to my learning
18 I felt a sense of satisfaction and achievement about this learning environment
19 The workshop was a valuable learning experience that will enhance my future practice
Table 3. (above) and Figure 1. (below) show the 2012 Indigenous workshop evaluation questions and participant responses.
Many positive comments were received such as:
“I really enjoyed this session and found that it both added to and cemented my knowledge.”
“I really enjoyed the experience and thought it was really well done! Thanks.”
The true highlight for the staff involved though was the email one of the students spontaneously sent to the workshop organisers:
“I just wanted to take the time to send you an email with some feedback on the IPE session that I attended this afternoon. I
would like to say congratulations to the workshop facilitators, Marion Kickett and the other health professional facilitators that
ran the session today - I really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it! As an Aboriginal person myself, I normally find that I tune out
quite easily when working with Indigenous Australians is the topic of conversation due to the ignorance normally expressed
by the audience, lack of enthusiasm by presenters and general disinterest by everyone involved but during the workshop I
found myself continually tuning in and engaging in the workshop. It was fantastic!
More detailed information on the workshops is available in the “2012 Interprofessional Education Case Based Workshops” report.

Image 1. Facilitators at the Working in Partnership with Indigenous Australians to Achieve Better Health Outcomes workshop.
3.3 Health Interprofessional Education Conference (HIPE)
The Faculty’s Health Interprofessional Education Conference ran for the fourth consecutive year. Two hundred and fifty five
participants registered to attend the conference with representation from Curtin students and staff, industry staff as well as
interstate (Victoria University) and international (Auckland University of Technology) staff. The conference theme, Innovation and
Quality in Interprofessional Education, showcased some of the excellent interprofessional initiatives happening in our state.
The morning plenary session Quality Lens of Interprofessional Practice by Professor Phill Della, Head of the School of Nursing
and Midwifery at Curtin outlined the strong link between the need for interprofessional practice and the provision of safe health
care. The afternoon plenary Cultural Safety: What is it? by Dr Marion Kickett, Lecturer in the faculty’s Indigenous Culture and
Health unit, presented a number of useful strategies on how to partner effectively with Aboriginal people to improve their health
outcomes. These sessions were supplemented by 13 paper presentations. A formal evaluation which required them to rate key
elements of the conference on a 5 point Likert scale from 1 Strongly Disagree to 5 Strongly Agree was completed by 43
participants. Qualitative feedback was also sought. The results, as shown in Table 4, indicate that the vast majority found the
conference program stimulating, the paper sessions relevant to them, the conference was well organised and their understanding
of interprofessional practice improved.
ATTRIBUTE MEDIAN 25 th % 75 th % IQR
I found the conference program stimulating 4 4 4 0
The keynote address on Quality Lens of Interprofessional Practice was relevant 4 4 4 0
The keynote address on Cultural Safety was relevant 4 4 5 1
The paper sessions were relevant 4 4 5 1
The conference was well organised 4 4 5 1
Overall, my understanding of interprofessional education and/or practice has
improved
4 4 5 1
Table 4. 2012 HIPE Participants Quantitative Evaluation Results.
This was supported by the participants’ qualitative comments including their feedback on the value of IPE:
“Interprofessional collaboration is needed to ensure a holistic approach to healthcare.”
“IPE programs really do make a difference within the community & are not only of benefit to the clients but also to the
students involved.”
3.4 Medical Curriculum
The development of the Faculty’s medical curriculum is well underway. This incorporates the Interprofessional First Year
curriculum along with interprofessional content in two key areas: (1) discipline units, and (2) “problems” in Year 2 and 3. An
overview of this is provided in Table 5.

Foundations of
Medical Science
191 (Discipline unit)
Foundations of
Medical Practice
192 (Discipline unit)
PBL
Development
Practical IPE
Collaboration
Planned manual handling practice with physiotherapy students. Tutorial role play utilising IPE videos
about hazards for the elderly living at home. Partnership to Heal case study (IPE online where students
choose-their-own ending scenarios). IPE placement with pharmacy students. Emergency department
placement examining the roles of various professions (nursing, paramedics)
Syllabus includes the “role of communication in interprofessional practice/ effective collaborative practice”
Learning outcomes include “Demonstrate effective communication skills with clients and health
professionals in an interprofessional clinical setting
Problem 1, Year 2 – vehicle crash theme that highlights handover from ambulance staff to an
interprofessional health care team in the hospital. Also, IPE implications at conclusion of problem,
relating to ongoing rehabilitation, counselling, etc.
Year 2 & 3 – co-locate medical students with other students on placement (e.g. –Year 2 Semester 1
students with pharmacy/laboratory medicine students; Year 2 Semester 2 with various health
professional students). Further case based learning in the online Stilwell virtual community
Table 5. Medical curriculum IPE overview.
3.5 Staff Professional Development
Professional development for both university and industry staff was once again an important undertaking for the IPE team in
2012. Workshops on facilitating interprofessional education in education settings (classroom and online) and workshops specific
to practice settings were delivered to staff in both semesters one and two. A three-hour workshop in February was attended by 26
staff new to teaching in Y1 core units. This session provided an overview of the curriculum and information on interprofessional
facilitation and team teaching. Participants were asked to rate their Motivation, Knowledge, and Confidence related to
interprofessional team teaching on a 5 point Likert scale from ‘very low’ to ‘very high’. A positive trend in all ratings
was found from pre- to post- workshop (Table 6). Participants highlighted that the modelling of team teaching by the
facilitators was very helpful, as was the opportunity to learn from other people’s experiences and network with
colleagues and being motivated by others’ enthusiasm. Participants also indicated that the practical activities and
strategies discussed were helpful and indicated that they would like more information on practical strategies,
particularly strategies to use to help engage and motivate students. There appears to be a need for strategies to
provide ongoing support for facilitators, such as follow up workshops and debriefing sessions as well as possibly a
more formalised peer-feedback process.
PRE
POST
Very
High
High Av Low Very
Low
Very
High
High Av Low Very
Low
Motivation to engage in team teaching 45% 50% 5% - - 44% 50% 6% - -
Confidence to engage in team teaching 50% 40% 35% - - 33% 56% 11% - -
Knowledge of strategies to facilitate good
team teaching
Confidence in ability to model collaborative
practice (Interprofessional practice)*
11% 30% 55% 10% - 22% 67% 11% - -
15% 50% 30% 5% - 28% 67% 6% - -
Table 6. 2012 Interprofessional First Year Staff Workshop Quantitative Evaluation Results (N = 20 pre & 18 post).
Staff from across the state involved in the various IPE placement activities participated in the semester 1 workshops. The three
workshops held in semester two consisted of two different target audiences – staff involved in Curtin’s IPE placement activities
and then staff from WA Country Health Service. Staff were asked to rate their own levels of motivation and confidence to facilitate
IPE as well as their knowledge of strategies to do this. Finally, they were asked to rate their ability to model effective
interprofessional practice (IPP). The results shown in Table 7 demonstrate the effectiveness of the workshop in increasing staff
self-ratings.
PRE
POST
Very
High
High Av Low Very
Low
Very
High
Table 7. 2012 Practice based IPE staff workshop Quantitative Evaluation Results (N=15)
High Av Low Very
Low
Motivation to engage in team teaching 10 3 1 1 - 9 5 1 - -
Confidence to engage in team teaching 4 8 2 1 - 7 6 2 - -
Knowledge of strategies to facilitate good 2 5 5 5 1 8 5 2 - -
team teaching
Confidence in ability to model collaborative
practice (Interprofessional practice)*
5 7 2 1 - 7 7 1 - -

Workshops on facilitating IPE in the classroom setting were delivered in customised formats for staff facilitating the case based
workshops. Eight staff attended the face-to-face session while 17 accessed the supplementary online materials via Blackboard.
A large undertaking was the development of a series of professional development workshops on interprofessional practice
for WA Country Health Services staff. This was designed to transform the way health services are delivered for people with
chronic conditions. The program, piloted in Geraldton late in semester two, consisted of three workshops delivered face to face
and videoconference modes. The key activities were: (1) establishing the current status of chronic disease management and the
need for change, (2) establishing new service and team goals including a shared vision of collaborative practice, and (3)
establishing new ways of working for the future via the formulation of an action plan which included the redesign of key processes.
Reviews of each team’s progress with their action plans were conducted in mid-December. An evaluation of the program is
currently being undertaken for WA Country Health Services.
4. PRACTICE
The practice initiatives again focused on interprofessional collaborative practice placements which in previous years were
available for only senior students but in 2012 were expanded to include students at earlier stages in their course. The diversity
and number of these practice based IPE activities continued to increase significantly. Table 8 provides the total numbers of
placement days for 2012.
PRACTICE ACTIVITY
TOTAL PLACEMENT DAYS
Early intervention school based service 5,259
Residential care (Brightwater) 920
Residential aged care (Juniper Rowethorpe) 1,547
Student Training Ward at Royal Perth Hospital 960
Go Global’s international service learning 1,520
Wound Education Centre 295
CHIRI Health & Wellness Centre 654
Mid West IPE Program 224
WACHS Geraldton Sub-acute & Albany Mental Health Program 970
Alzheimer’s Association of WA 1,327
North Metropolitan Older Adult Mental Health 2,076
TOTAL 15,752
Table 8. 2012 Total Placement Days.
Oversight of the Curtin-led practice initiatives was managed an overarching IPP Steering Group and 5 steering groups which
emerged in 2012 from the long standing Fieldwork Education Committee:
1. Juniper – Rowethorpe led by Liz Frehner from Nursing and later in the year by Brooke Sanderson from Speech Pathology
2. Rural IPP Schools led by Dawn Forman from the IPE Team
3. Early Intervention led by Nigel Gribble from Occupational Therapy and Social Work.
4. CHIRI Interprofessional Clinics led by Peter Robinson from Physiotherapy and later in the year Liz Frehner
5. Curtin non-HWA Partnerships led by Margo Brewer from the IPE Team
The program at Brightwater has a long standing steering group with representatives from the 3 partner organisations –Brightwater
Care Group, Curtin and UWA. These groups were responsible for ensuring that these high quality fieldwork placements meet
Curtin’s interprofessional and discipline specific requirements along with our industry partner requirements. A short summary of
the practice initiatives for 2012 follows:
4.1.1 Early intervention school based service
Supported by funding from Health Workforce Australia, six schools received services from interprofessional teams of Curtin
students: Challis Early Childhood Education Centre (ECEC), Boyare Primary, Dryandra Primary, Neerigen Brook Primary, Secret
Harbour Primary, and Sacred Heart Thornlie. Students from Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology, Physiotherapy, Nursing,
Social Work, Counselling Psychology and Sexology provided individual, classroom-based and education interventions. These
services were modelled on the successful program that had been running at Challis ECEC since early 2010. Feedback from 35
staff involved in the Early Intervention Program at several metropolitan primary schools was also obtained via an online survey at
the end of Term 4. 71% of the respondents were teachers. 91% reported a significant gain in their knowledge, skills, attitudes,
perceptions or practices as a direct result of this program. These gains included learning how to incorporate therapy goals into the
classroom program; more accurate on children development and when and who to refer to; implemented more specific programs
for the whole class; new strategies to assist children with specific needs; increased understanding of why children display
particular behaviours; improved ability to deal with conflict; checking the children's skills more and reminding them of these e.g.
correct pencil grip.

These gains were described as follows:
“I incorporate feedback/ideas the students give me that will benefit the children in my class, I have been able to increase my
knowledge of different needs and behaviours and why children display them.”
“My knowledge and skills of speech therapy and occupational therapy has greatly increased as I have been shown a variety
of strategies by the science students which assist me in classroom situations when students demonstrate difficulty in areas
of development.”
“The children enjoy the interactions and the difference it makes to their attitude and achievement is amazing. “
“Parents are very grateful that their child can receive free support in areas which are generally not catered for at school.”
More detail on this initiative can be found in the ‘Early Intervention -Interprofessional Practice in Schools Annual Report 2012’ and
the ‘Challis Early Childhood Education Centre Annual Report 2012’.
4.1.2 Residential Care Brightwater
Supported by residual funding from the Department of Health and Ageing our successful collaboration with Brightwater Care
Group and the University of Western Australia continued in 2012 with students from Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy,
Speech Pathology, Social Work, Dietetics, Pharmacy, Nursing (Curtin & UWA), and Medicine (UWA) completing placements at
the Madeley site. Two comprehensive evaluations were undertaken by Brightwater staff. The first was a survey of students to
which 38 students responded - 53% from Curtin and 47% from UWA. Responses were overwhelming positive with between 92
and 100% of students rating the placement as welcoming, supportive, meeting their expectation and needs and the feedback
received valuable. The second was a critique of the partnerships between the three organisations involved. This also yielded
positive results with significant gains particularly with regards the partnership principles: (1) ensure commitment and ownership,
(2) develop and maintain trust, and (3) create clear and robust partnership working arrangements. This program will continue for
the next few years following the success of Brightwater and other partners in receiving a large NHMRC grant.
4.1.3 Residential Care Juniper Rowethorpe
Supported by funding from Health Workforce Australia, students from Counselling Psychology, Nursing, Occupational Therapy,
Pharmacy, Physiotherapy and Speech Pathology completed a placement at Annesley House and/or the GP Clinic on site at
Rowethorpe. Students made a significant contribution to the services offered in these facilities. For example, Counselling
Psychology students worked one-to-one with residents, providing a confidential and impartial avenue to discuss their issues;
Nursing students worked with carers and the Nursing staff to provide assistance with daily living activities; Occupational Therapy
and Physiotherapy students were involved with assessments, development of care plans, individual and group sessions and the
evaluation of care plans; speech pathology students performed dysphagia and communication assessments and reviews; and
pharmacy students undertook medication reviews. More detail on this initiative can be found in the ‘Juniper Annual Report 2012’.
4.1.4 Student Led Training Ward
The student led training ward at Royal Perth Hospital, the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere, has been running since the
first pilot in semester two 2010 thanks to funding of the staff facilitator positions by the South Metropolitan Area Health Service.
This placement for Curtin University students from Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy and Social Work as
well as students from Medicine and Nursing from UWA, ECU and UNDA required them to work as a team to undertake all of the
duties involved in running a six-bed section of a general medical ward and then hand over of patients to the next shift of staff. A
review attended by all key stakeholders was held in August 2012.
Plans for the placement rotations in 2013 have been completed.
4.1.5 Go Global
In 2012, Go Global offered eight placement sites in five countries. A total of 76 students and staff from seven schools across the
Faculty of Health Sciences participated in the program. Two IPE teams of students made their inaugural visits to new host sites in
Phnom Penh, Cambodia and the Dumaguete, Philippines. In Cambodia, Occupational and Physiotherapy students worked
collaboratively at two sites, Veterans International Cambodia where they worked with adults and children with disability and at
Rose Rehabilitation Cambodia where they were involved in providing care for a range of conditions, including neurological and
musculoskeletal conditions. In Dumaguete, postgraduate dietetics students teamed up with health promotion and nursing students
to conduct needs analysis for the local communities and implemented health screening and healthy lifestyle interventions to
educate the locals regarding hypertension and diabetes which are common health problems in this community. A breakdown of
sites visited and disciplines is provided at Table 8, overleaf.
Once again, Go Global was successful in winning two Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
Short-term Mobility grants ($50,000) to support students and staff travel on Go Global placements.

COUNTRY
Dietetics
Health
Promotion
Nursing
Occupational
Therapy
Pharmacy
Physiotherapy
Speech
Pathology
TOTAL
Students
Cambodia 7 3 10
China 12 9 5 26
India 4 2 6 1 3 2 18
Philippines 3 1 2 6
Ukraine 12 2 2 16
TOTAL 3 5 4 37 1 17 9 76
Table 8. 2012 Go Global Student Participants
4.1.6 Wound Education Centre
This centre, run in conjunction with Silver Chain, provided students with the opportunity to learn more about chronic wound
management in the community and the impact this has on a person’s quality of life. The underlying principle was to provide a
practical session within the IPE framework including basic wound management theory and its application in a given scenario.
Evaluation was also undertaken in the Wound Education Centre. This one day learning experience yielded very positive feedback
from the students as shown in Figure 4 below.
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
Q6
Q7
Q8
Q9
Q10
I was satisfied with the level of profession-specific facilitation I received in the placement
I was satisfied with the level of interprofessional facilitation I received in the placement
The activities and materials stimulated my learning
My knowledge of wound classification increased
My knowledge of the impact of wound healing on a person has increased
My knowledge of the impact of issues e.g. co-morbidities and the ageing process on a person, has increased
I was guided to find my own solutions to presented issues
I was encouraged to learn from other health providers views, opinions and experiences
My knowledge of the role of other health professionals in wound care has increased
The wound Education Centre provided a valuable learning experience that will enhance my future practice
Table 9. Wound Education Centre student evaluation questions 2012.
Figure 4. Wound Education Centre student evaluation results for 2012 (% responses).
4.1.7 CHIRI Health and Wellness Centre
Supported by funding from the Department of Health and Ageing and Health Workforce Australia a number of CHIRI IPE clinics
operated in 2012. Several clinics involved services being delivered by students under the supervision of expert clinicians such as
the Musculoskeletal Imaging Clinic (Physiotherapy and Medical Imaging Science plus some Occupational Therapy students); the

Upper Limb Therapy Clinic (Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy students); the Speech Stuttering Clinic (Speech Pathology
working with Nursing and Occupational Therapy students); Brownlie Towers Student-led Health and Wellness Program (Nursing,
Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Nutrition, Social Work who were joined by Podiatry students from UWA); and the GP
Health and Wellness Clinic at Juniper Rowethorpe focused on medication management reviews (Pharmacy students working with
Nursing, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy students). The Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) clinic, run on
campus by clinical staff from the South Metropolitan Health Service, demonstrated interprofessional team care by a respiratory
physician, nurse and physiotherapist. Curtin students attended the COPD clinics in an observational capacity. The third key
learning experience was the on campus Wound Education Centre. This involved a nurse educator presenting case studies (paper
based and/or clients) and engaging students from different disciplines in discussing their role in management. Plans for a
refurbishment of Building 404 in 2013 have been completed and will include a central reception, additional clinics and flexible
spaces to support interprofessional case discussions and activities.
4.1.8 Mid-West IPE Program
This program was piloted in 2012 following lengthy negotiations between the various partner organisations: Curtin University, the
Combined Universities Centre for Rural Health, the Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service, and other partner agencies
including the school in Mt Magnet. The program, based in Geraldton and Mount Magnet provided a placement for students from
physiotherapy, speech pathology, pharmacy, health promotion and dietetics. A diverse range of health service related projects
focusing on rural and remote Aboriginal Health were undertaken by Curtin students including:
Aboriginal health promotion e.g. developing health promotion messages for radio
Remote chronic disease primary prevention e.g. health education in remote schools
Regional and remote aged care programs
Remote primary school programs e.g. personal development and resilience
Community child development program support e.g. resource and workshop planning
This program will continue in 2013.
4.1.9 WACHS Albany Mental Health & Geraldton Subacute Programs
The Mental Health program is based in Albany with the Great Southern Mental Health Service. The placement offers the
opportunity for Social Work, Occupational Therapy, Psychology and Nursing students to work within an interprofessional team
service delivery model supported by a dedicated Clinical Educator. The students provide essential community and inpatient-based
specialist mental health services as well as participate in student led initiatives including a project with the local Consumer Action
Group and engaged with primary mental health programs (such as Mental Health First Aid, Day in the Shed and Pit Stop). A more
fulsome description of this program can be found in the report ‘WACHS Albany Mental Health Program Report 2012’.
The Sub acute program is based in Geraldton. Students from occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology and nursing
work within several settings including the Day Therapy Unit, Community Rehabilitation and the Early Supported Stroke Discharge
Program. A diverse range of learning experiences are provided such as comprehensive assessment, care planning and case
management of frail aged inpatient and outpatients, exposure to the continence clinic and exercise, cooking and cognitive groups,
supervision of therapy assistants, and community based multidisciplinary stroke rehabilitation.
Both of these valuable WACHS programs will continue in 2013.
4.1.10 Alzheimer’s Association of WA (AAWA)
AAWA are building a new on-campus facility within the next couple of years which will ensure a long term, sustainable partnership
between Curtin and AAWA. Funded by Health Workforce Australia students from Occupational Therapy (34), Physiotherapy (3),
Counseling Psychology (1) and Nursing (2) completed a placement in 2012. A review meeting was held in December with staff
generally positive about the placement program thus far. Plans are underway for 2013 with Curtin staff working with AAWA to fill
all of the available placements.
4.1.11 North Metropolitan Older Adult Mental Health (NMOAMH)
Curtin students from Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Pathology, Social Work and Nursing completed placements
at NMOAMH in 2012. A formal review meeting was held in late November. Many aspects of the program were reported to be very
positive but issues were raised with regards to several factors including the consequences of the very short placements for
nursing students, and the lack of understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the various staff involved. All feedback from
patients or their relatives has been positive, and relatives have reported viewing NMOAMH as a more professional organisation
as a result of its association with the University(s). The general sense was that the students have provided significant stimulation
within the organisation. NMOMAH has been successful in attracting further funding including $100,000 to renovate the student's
room at the Osborne Park facility.
The interprofessional practice placements were evaluated using an online survey. A vers small number of studetns completed this
survey and a sample of the responses is provided in Table 10, overleaf. The complete results are available in the ‘Student
Evaluation of Interprofessional Practice Placement Program in 2012’ report.

PLACEMENT ATTRIBUTE
% OF AGREEMENT
An appropriate level of experiences was provided 79%
A range of opportunities was provided 63%
Ability to develop their interprofessional practice capabilities 78%
Ability to develop their discipline specific capabilities 78%
Satisfaction with level of interprofessional facilitation 65%
Satisfaction with level of discipline specific supervision 69%
A safe supported environment was provided 91%
Feedback was frequent and timely 82%
Felt respected by IPE facilitator 91%
Table 10 Students’ evaluation of interprofessional placements in 2012 (N=58)
4.2 New Practice Partnerships
The development of key industry partnerships that enabled high quality sustainable IPP placements was the key focus of the IPE
team over the past 12 months. The partnership with the Cockburn GP Super Clinic was well progressed by the end of 2012. This
facility is due to open in early 2014. Negotiations with the Perth South Coastal Medicare Local re the Rockingham GP Super
Clinic, due to open in 2015, were in their early stages. The design of the Joondalup Clinical School was finalised with Ramsay
Health and the other partner universities but negotiations re the Curtin activities within this facility are yet to be finalised. These
initiatives will continue to be a key focus of the Faculty in 2013.
4.3 Interprofessional Capabilities Assessment Tool (ICAT)
The ICAT continued to be used for the assessment of students’ interprofessional capabilities in all Curtin IPE placements in 2012.
Modified versions for novice and intermediate were introduced with more junior students joining the Interprofessional Practice
Placement Program for the first time. The development of an iPad application of the ICAT, for implementation in 2013, is well
underway. This will increase the efficiency and standardisation of the assessment process.
5. RESEARCH
Fifteen local, national and international conference presentations were undertaken in the past year and seven articles were
published or accepted for publication in peer reviewed journals or textbooks.
5.1 Conference Presentations
Brewer, M. (2012). A tool to assess students’ interprofessional practice capabilities for diverse professions and in diverse clinical
settings. All Together Better Health 6, Japan.
Brewer, M. & Stewart-Wynne, E. (2012). The Royal Perth Hospital - Curtin University Student Training Ward: Building a
sustainable interprofessional practice placement In Australia. All Together Better Health 6, Japan.
Tomlinson, K., Ivanac, J. & Brewer, M. (2012). Integrating a student run interprofessional health service into a primary school
setting: A successful practice based IPE partnership, All Together Better Health 6, Japan.
Downie, J., Jones, S., Davis, M. & Brewer, M. (2012). An Interprofessional First Year Curriculum for 22 Health Sciences
Disciplines: Experiences, Evaluation, and Evidence, All Together Better Health 6, Japan.
Brewer, M. (2012). Interprofessional practice placements for over 1,000 students from 10 disciplines, All Together Better Health 6,
Japan.
Brewer, M. & Bolte, K. (2012). Interprofessional Education in Practice: an interprofessional capabilities assessment tool for
student placements, The National Association of Educators in Practice Conference: Promoting Quality in Practice Education,
Brighton, UK
Tomlinson, K. (2012). Going Global – An innovative approach to health professional education and building capacity
internationally. Rendezvous Conference, Ontario, Canada
Davis, M., Jones, S. & Brewer, M. (2012). Learning and teaching together: Benefits of an Interprofessional First Year Curriculum
for enhancing interdisciplinary connections for staff and students. The Higher Education Research and Development Society
of Australasia, Hobart Tasmania July
Jones, S. (2012): Transforming the FYE in Health Sciences: Development and Evaluation of an Interprofessional First Year
Curriculum at “Next-generation” Curricula for UQ FHS first year students. University of Queensland March 29
Jones, S. (2012): Physiotherapists for the future: the importance of interprofessional and intercultural capabilities. Brian Edwards
Address, Australian Physiotherapy Association Conference (WA Branch), Perth, May 12
Forman, D. & Bolte, K. (2012) A new model of integrated interprofessional university clinic. Rendezvous Conference. Thunder Bay
Canada
Forman, D. & Freegard, H. (2012) Developing online interprofessional dementia workshops for Australia wide distribution.
Rendezvous Conference Thunder Bay Canada
Forman D. (2012) Australia wide curriculum review for interprofessional education Rendezvous Conference Thunder Bay Canada
Fyfe, S., Dahlberg, J. & Forman, D. (2012) Developing and interprofessional medical curriculum. Rendezvous Conference
Thunder Bay Canada
Frehner, E. & Bolte, K. (2012). Consumer Focused Primary Health Care: A model for interprofessional student led clinics. 4 th
International Congress on Innovations in Nursing, Perth, WA.

5.2 Publications
Barr, H. & Brewer, M. (2012). Interprofessional practice-based education. J. Higgs et al. (Eds.) Practice-Based Education:
Perspectives and Strategies, Sense Publishers.
Marles, K., Lawrence, J., Brewer, M., Saunders, R. & Lake, F. (2012). Interprofessional Education in the Residential Aged Care
Setting. International Journal of Aging in Society, 1(4)
Forman, D. (2012). Community based care and the wider health care team. Thistlethwaite, J. (ed). Values-based Interprofessional
Collaborative Practice: Working Together in Health Care. Cambridge University Press
Brewer, M. & Jones, S. (2013). An interprofessional practice capability framework focusing on safe, high quality client centred
health service. Journal of Allied Health (in press)
Ritchie, C., Brewer, M., Gum, L., Sheehan, D., Burley, M., Saunders-Battersby, S., Evans, S. & Tucker, L. (2013).
Interprofessional Collaborative Practice across Australasia: An Emergent and Effective Community of Practice. Focus on
Health Professional Education: A Multi-disciplinary Journal (in press).
Brewer, M. & Jones, S. (2012). A community engagement model for leadership in collaborative practice initiatives. Forman, D. &
Jones, M. (eds). Leadership development for interprofessional education and collaborative practice, Routledge (in press)
Brewer, M., Tucker, B., Irving, L., Franklin, D. & Chuang, V. (2012). The evolution of Faculty wide interprofessional education
workshops. Forman, D. & Jones, M. (eds). Leadership development for interprofessional education and collaborative practice,
Routledge (in press)
5.3 Research in Teaching and Learning Program
Ten research programs were developed in the Faculty, the tenth being the Research in Teaching and Learning Program. This
program was most appropriate for the work that was being undertaken within interprofessional education and therefore was
popular with people undertaking research in that area. In its first year of activity the group had eight full members and thirty
associate members. A range of development programs were made available to encourage research including gaining ethics
approval and writing an article in a day. The networking provided was appreciated by staff. For example, members reported that
the “speed dating” exercise had facilitated a number of meetings. The Research in Teaching and Learning Program was charged
with publishing ten research articles in the last year. The group exceeded this with 18 articles published and a full program of
presentations at the annual Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute conference.
6. KEY COLLABORATIONS
Several members of the IPE Team were involved in the leadership of two national Office for Learning and Teaching
projects: “Curriculum renewal and interprofessional health education: establishing capabilities, outcomes and standards”,
and “Creating a collaborative practice environment which encourages sustainable interprofessional leadership, education
and practice”. The curriculum project, led by the University of Technology Sydney, involves 11 universities from around
Australia. Funded by the Office for Learning and Teaching, with additional support provided by Health Workforce Australia
and WA Health, this project reviewed interprofessional activity across Australia and developed a curriculum framework for
interprofessional education. In addition to the curriculum review two further projects were taken forward by the same group: (1)
a review of interprofessional activity in Western Australia, and (2) developing a scenario planning day. The pilot planning day was
held on October 25 in Perth. All reports and newsletters can be found on the web site http://www.ipehealth.edu.au/portal/. This
project is due for completion in mid-2013.
The leadership for collaborative practice environments project, conducted in partnership with Charles Sturt University, is
also funded by the Office for Learning and Teaching and Health Workforce Australia. This project is in its early stages and
aims to develop an interprofessional change leadership program for industry partner staff to support the expansion of IPE
opportunities for students The needs analysis survey of staff from the South Metropolitan Health Service has been
completed. A collaboration with the University of Toronto has been established to assist with development of a pilot two day
professional development course to be held April/May, 2013. This project is due for completion in mid-2014.
Other collaborative activities in 2012 included:
Two Curtin staff were involved in the Office for Learning and Teaching project “Work-based assessment of teamwork: an
interprofessional approach”. This project is in its early stages.
The Australian Catholic University requested our “Preparation for Interprofessional Practice” student handbook for adaptation to
their context.
Our Interprofessional Capability Assessment Tool was requested by several organisations including the University of Limerick,
Auckland University of Technology, Metro South Health Queensland, and the University of British Columbia.
The WA Training Centre for Subacute Care requested our Interprofessional Capability Framework for use, with minor additions,
by qualified health professionals.
These and other key resources and visits were requested by Coventry University, the Wound Management Innovation
Cooperative Research Centre, De Montfort University in the UK ,La Trobe Community health Centre, Washington State
University, Broken Hill University Department of Rural Health, Nanyang Polytechnic, Victoria University, Auckland University of
Technology, Ko Awatea Centre for Workforce & Leadership Capability, Brock University Canada, Monash University and the
University of British Columbia.
Advice was provided on the development of the first IPE workshop in Busselton, the Canadian Interprofessional Health
Collaborative competency tool, and the WA Country Health Service’s Clinical Supervisor Support Program.

A number of international presentations were undertaken including via Skype: ‘Rural and Remote Interprofessional Education’
Croatia, ‘Developing New Modes of interprofessional Health Care’ Washington DC. And others face-to-face: ‘Australian
interprofessional developments’ Auckland University of Technology New Zealand, ‘The future of interprofessional education
using scenario planning’ Sydney, ‘The Royal Perth Hospital-Curtin University Student Training Ward’ Ko Awatae New Zealand
These projects confirm Curtin University as a national and international leader in interprofessional education.
7. DISSEMINATION
In addition to the wide dissemination at the conferences listed above the IPE team’s newsletter pIPEline published one edition in
2012. Our IPE website had a total of 2502 page views in 2012: (http://healthsciences.curtin.edu.au/faculty/ipe.cfm)
The most popular information sections were the ‘About IPE’, ‘General’, ‘IPE video’, ‘FAQs’, ‘practice’, ‘education’ and
‘placements’. The student orientation modules were also very popular with 1,428 hits and the staff facilitator training modules had
627 hits.
8. SUMMARY OF ACHIEVEMENTS
2012 was another year of success for the IPE Program at Curtin with 2,500 students involved in the interprofessional first year
units, 1,038 students completed the case based IPE workshops and students completed over 15,000 interprofessional placement
days. Feedback from the students, staff and clients involved was overwhelmingly positive.
The Curtin-Brightwater-UWA placement project was runner up in the University of Western Australia Excellence in Teaching
Awards, while Curtin’s Interprofessional Placement Program, led by Ms Margo Brewer, won an Office for Learning and Teaching
Award for Programs that Enhance Learning: Educational Partnerships and Collaborations with Other Organisations.
The greatest achievement of 2012 was that the IPE Program, encompassing education, practice and research, won the
International Best Practice Competition at the World Business Capability Congress in New Zealand, having already won the
Benchmarking Partnerships Australian Best Practice Competition, held in Sydney, Australia.
Image 2. (left): Ms Margo Brewer with Senator Chris Evans
accepting the Office for Learning and Teaching Award for the
IPP Program in Canberra.
Image 3. (right): Ms Margo Brewer with the founder of
Benchmarking, Dr Robert Camp.
9. KEY PLANS FOR 2013
Further disseminate results of IPE initiatives via peer reviewed journals.
Progress the IPP Program at the Cockburn and the Rockingham GP Super Clinics, and the Joondalup Clinical School.
Continue to refine all IPE experiences – education, practice and research.
Complete the OLT Project “Curriculum renewal and interprofessional health education: establishing capabilities, outcomes
and standards”.
Continue to progress the OLT and HWA Project “Creating a collaborative practice environment which encourages
sustainable interprofessional leadership, education and practice”.
Complete the Indigenous e-scholarship project.
Finalise the Department of Health and Ageing and the Health Workforce Australia grants.
Complete refurbishments in the CHIRI Interprofessional Health and Wellness Centre and the Challis Early Childhood Education
Centre.
Establish a simulation suite at Juniper’s Rowethorpe site.
Establish the IPP Program at Brookman Primary School.
10. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This report was prepared by Margo Brewer, Director Interprofessional Practice with assistance from the Teaching & Learning
Team: Sue Jones, Dawn Forman, Melissa Davis, Cassandra Doherty, Leah Irving, Keryn Bolte, Robynne Snell, Michelle
Donaldson, Helen Flavell and Lorenz Wolf

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may be subject to change.
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