The benefits of interprofessional education 10 years on.

Abstract

Interprofessional education (IPE) was first conceived in 1973 by a World Health Organization (WHO) expert group in Geneva. WHO member states were then charged with implementing medical education IPE pilot projects and from then to today there has a been a rapid proliferation in the number of publications on the subject. IPE has generated research into its use, conferences specific to IPE, organisations dedicated to it and policy championing it. The authors question whether there has been any major shift in the silos in which different professions might be working. The authors published an article on the benefits of IPE ( Illingworth and Chelvanayagam, 2007 ). Ten years have now passed and many changes have been implemented and experienced in health and social care and therefore a review of the literature is required. Also, it is 7 years since the publication of WHO's report outlining the role of IPE in the preparation of health professionals ( WHO, 2010 ) and, increasingly, UK Government policy champions collaborative and integrated working. The conclusions from the 2007 article acknowledged the development of IPE; however, it highlighted the need for empirical evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of IPE in service user and carer outcomes. This article will explore whether IPE has achieved the benefits discussed in the previous article and what developments have occurred since it was published.