A Co-Curricular IPE for Health Professions Students: A World Cafe Approach for Facilitating Knowledge about Interprofessional Collaboration and Patient-Centered Care

Faculty/Staff Leader Summary

There are an estimated 13.1 million adults in the United States with serious mental illness (SMI). Studies indicate a strong link between mental and physical health, thus indicating a need for interprofessional collaboration and patient-centered care. One approach that is increasingly gaining attention but is underutilized in interprofessional education (IPE) is the involvement of service users to engage health professions students about critical issues regarding mental health. Thus, the purpose of this proposed mixed methods study is to virtually tailor a co-curricular IPE involving service users. We will use a World Café format to enable students from the South Texas Area Health Center (ST-AHEC) Scholars Program and service users from the Prosumer Group to engage in discussions about mental health. We will recruit ST-AHEC Scholars from UT Health San Antonio to serve as student leaders to help us tailor the World Café along with our collaborators from the Prosumer Group. We will then invite all ST-AHEC Scholars across South Texas to attend the World Café.

The goal of this co-curricular IPE project is to enable students to acquire greater knowledge and positive attitudes towards interprofessional team collaboration, obtain valuable insight about the healthcare experiences of individuals with mental health conditions, and understand the value of behavioral health integrated care and patient-centered care.

IPEC Competency Domain(s)
Roles & Responsibilities
Teams & Teamwork
Values & Ethics

IPEC Sub-Competencies Targeted
TT2: Appreciate team members’ diverse experiences, expertise, cultures, positions, power, and roles towards improving team function.
TT3: Practice team reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making.
TT4: Use shared leadership practices to support team effectiveness.
TT5: Apply interprofessional conflict management methods, including identifying conflict cause and addressing divergent perspectives.
TT6: Reflect on self and team performance to inform and improve team effectiveness.
TT10: Discuss organizational structures, policies, practices, resources, access to information, and timing issues that impact the effectiveness of the team.
VE1: Promote the values and interests of persons and populations in health care delivery, One Health, and population health initiatives.
VE2: Advocate for social justice and health equity of persons and populations across the life span.
VE3: Uphold the dignity, privacy, identity, and autonomy of persons while maintaining confidentiality in the delivery of team-based care.
VE4: Value diversity, identities, cultures, and differences.
VE6: Collaborate with honesty and integrity while striving for health equity and improvements in health outcomes.
VE7: Practice trust, empathy, respect, and compassion with persons, caregivers, health professionals, and populations.
RR2: Collaborate with others within and outside of the health system to improve health outcomes.
RR4: Differentiate each team member’s role, scope of practice, and responsibility in promoting health outcomes.
RR5: Practice cultural humility in interprofessional teamwork.