Interprofessional Care: A Blueprint for Action - HealthForceOntario

are necessary components of implementation;
without it, the success of implementation may
be limited. Toolkits that support organizations,
providers, regulators, educators, patients and
families may be helpful in providing “how
to” information for interprofessional care
implementation. 1
2. Support interprofessional care champions
Support will be needed to help leaders who
are committed and dedicated to ensuring
positive outcomes by promoting and
advocating interprofessional care, whether
in an educational or practice setting. It will
be important to provide resources and tools
for identifying, engaging and nurturing
interprofessional care champions who will
facilitate communication and leadership
development across the continuum of health
care and education settings.
3. Provide support for interprofessional care and
interprofessional education
Interprofessional care must be incorporated into
continuing education programs and activities,
including the following:
• Instituting coaching teams/mentorship
programs.
•
•
Providing support for entry-to-practice
learners so that they can embrace
interprofessional care at the outset.
Ensuring clinical placements are
appropriately aligned to support entry-to
practice learners.
Page 30 Interprofessional Care: A Blueprint for Action
Context or setting is critical in understanding
how to teach or practice interprofessional care
in the community, acute care or long-term
care setting. 2 Given the diversity of health care
settings, cultural change will be needed to
influence the structures and processes for health
care teams and how they interact with teams in
other health care settings. Continuing education
programs in interprofessional care will need to
be flexible and adaptable to ensure that what is
taught is relevant to the context or setting within
which interprofessional care will be practiced.
4. Evaluate system performance and outcomes
Evaluation and public reporting processes must
be part of the implementation process in order
to identify which activities are working well
and help determine which need further attention.
An evaluation framework may include the
following:
• Funding targeted at interprofessional care
projects to highlight positive or negative
results and determine why projects have or
have not been successful.
•
•
•
•
Performance-monitoring and publicreporting
mechanisms.
Means of providing evidence on the
outcomes and benefits of interprofessional
care.
Means of sharing collective performance
measures among peers.
Descriptions of interprofessional care in
different practice settings (e.g., home care,
acute care, long-term care, primary care,
etc.) and its impact on a range of patient
populations.