Interprofessional education increases knowledge, promotes team building, and changes practice in the care of Parkinson's disease.
OBJECTIVE Examine outcomes for the National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) Allied Team Training for Parkinson (ATTP) an interprofessional education (IPE) program in Parkinson's disease (PD) and team based care for medicine, nursing, occupational, physical and music therapies, physician assistant, social work and speech language pathology disciplines. BACKGROUND Healthcare professionals need education in evidence based PD practices and working effectively in teams. Few evidence based models of IPE in PD exist. METHODS Knowledge about PD, team based care, the role of other disciplines and attitudes towards healthcare teams were measured before and after a protocol driven training program. Knowledge, attitudes and practice changes were again measured at 6 month post training. Trainee results were compared to results of controls. RESULTS Twenty six NPF ATTP trainings were held across the U.S. (2003 2013) Compared to control participants (n 100) trainees (n 1468) showed statistically significant posttest improvement in all major outcomes, including self perceived (p 0.001) and objective knowledge (p 0.001) Understanding Role of Other Disciplines (p 0.001) Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams Scale (p 0.001) and the Attitudes Toward Value of Teams (p 0.001) subscale. Despite some decline, significant improvements were largely sustained at six month post training. Qualitative analyses confirmed post training practice changes. CONCLUSIONS The NPF ATTP model IPE program showed sustained positive gains in knowledge of PD, team strategies and role of other disciplines, team attitudes, and important practice improvements. Further research should examine longer term outcomes, objectively measure practice changes and mediators, and determine impact on patient outcomes.
Parkinsonism related disorders