Background: Interprofessional collaboration potentially enhances patient safety and satisfaction, and reduces tensions and conflicts among health professionals. However, health professionals often lack sufficient knowledge of other professional roles and competences to engage in interprofessional teamwork. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an interprofessional training programme on students’ perceived self-efficacy. Methods: A quasi-experimental study with an intervention group (239 students) and a control group (405 students). The intervention was an interprofessional clinical study (ICS) unit including students from nursing, medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, laboratory technology and radiography. Data on students’ perceived self-efficacy were collected through web-based questionnaires. Aspects of self-efficacy measured were: (1) collaboration with other professions in planning goals and actions for patients; (2) collaboration with other professions for rehabilitation; (3) identifying the functions of other professions and (4) assessing and describing patients’ needs and problems. Results: All scores of perceived self-efficacy for the ICS group improved over time although one score change was non-significant (p = 0.08). After adjustment for baseline differences and the score change for the control group, the ICS group's self-efficacy score gain remained statistically significant. Conclusion: The study showed that interprofessional training improved students’ perception of self-efficacy more than traditional clinical training.

The use of telemedicine technologies in health care has increased substantially, together with a growing interest in participatory design methods when developing telemedicine approaches. We present lessons learned from a case study involving patients with heart disease and health care professionals in the development of a personalized Web-based health care intervention. We used a participatory design approach inspired by the method for feasibility studies in software development. We collected qualitative data using multiple methods in 3 workshops and analyzed the data using thematic analysis. Participants were 7 patients with diagnosis of heart disease, 2 nurses, 1 physician, 2 systems architects, 3 moderators, and 3 observers. We present findings in 2 parts. (1) Outcomes of the participatory design process: users gave valuable feedback on ease of use of the platforms' tracking tools, platform design, terminology, and insights into patients' monitoring needs, information and communication technologies skills, and preferences for self-management tools. (2) Experiences from the participatory design process: patients and health care professionals contributed different perspectives, with the patients using an experience-based approach and the health care professionals using a more attitude-based approach. The essential lessons learned concern planning and organization of workshops, including the finding that patients engaged actively and willingly in a participatory design process, whereas it was more challenging to include and engage health care professionals.

The aim of this study was to assess outcome in long-term quality of life (QoL) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among adult survivors of trauma. Secondary aim was to compare levels of the outcome with injury severity and specialization level of two trauma centres. A retrospective study included patients received by the trauma response teams at two hospitals in 2013 aged 18 or more at follow-up. We assessed QoL and PTSD with one mailed questionnaire to each patient at either 12 or 24 months of follow-up. Health status was measured by EuroQol EQ-5D and the Glasgow Outcome Scale. PTSD symptoms were classified according to the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV). A questionnaire was mailed to 774 patients at end of 2014 or early 2015, 455 were included for analysis; median age 44 (IQR 25–57; 68% male); median NISS 9 (IQR 2–17); At follow-up 24% (95% CI 20–28) reported a EQ index score value equivalent to the lowest 2.3% in the Danish population norm. Probable PTSD was present in 19% (95% CI 13–27) of patients with severe injuries (NISS> 15), and 23% (95% CI 19–28) of those with NISS < 15. Severe trauma has substantial impact on QoL and PTSD assessed at 12–24 months after the trauma. The QoL was well below the Danish population norm. The presence of PTSD was independent of injury severity. Trauma Centres should consider to include this as part of the treatment principles.

Over the past decades, the health sector in general has increasingly acknowledged the effectiveness of interprofessional clinical training in enhancing teamwork. In psychiatry, however, knowledge of the benefits of collaborative clinical training is sparse. This study aimed to investigate the impact of interprofessional training on students’ readiness for interprofessional collaboration in a psychiatric ward. An intervention study assessed interprofessional clinical training in a training ward. Undergraduate students from the disciplines of medicine, nursing, psychotherapy, pedagogy, and social work were allocated either to an intervention group receiving interprofessional training or to a comparison group receiving conventional clinical training. Outcomes were assessed using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) and the Assessment of Interprofessional Team Collaboration Scale (AITCS). Linear mixed regression was used to compare differences in mean scores postintervention, adjusted for baseline score, gender, and profession. Mean postintervention scores were higher in the intervention group (n = 87) than in the comparison group (n = 108) for both scales (overall sum score). For the RIPLS, the mean difference was 2.99 (95% CI 0.82 to 5.16; p = 0.007); for the AITCS it was 8.11 (95% CI 2.92–13.30; p = 0.002). Improvement in readiness for interprofessional learning and team collaboration in the intervention group remained statistically significant after adjustment for baseline differences between the two groups. Students’ self-reported readiness for interprofessional learning and their team collaboration were improved after interprofessional clinical training. Still, further studies of both the processes and the long-term effects of undergraduate IPE in mental healthcare are needed. The study was registered March 62,017 on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03070977 (Retrospectively registrered).