Complexity science: The study of complex systems. There are many definitions of complexity, therefore many natural, artificial and abstract objects or networks can be considered to be complex systems, and their study (complexity science) is highly interdisciplinary. Examples of complex systems include ant-hills, ants themselves, human economies, nervous systems, cells and living things, including human beings, as well as modern energy or telecommunication infrastructures.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_system)
Champion: The ‘Champion’ function is one of passion and commitment to the idea; it is one of liaising and ensuring that the process is understood, internalized and that it moves forward. Champions will not necessarily be hierarchically recognized within the sites – instead, the focus should be on whether they model the behaviours and attitudes mentioned above and are seen to have credibility within the site context.
Coach: The ‘Coach’ function is to act as a resource and respond to the needs of their site; consequently, the manner in which the Coach function plays out across sites may be very different from one site to another.
Collaborative Workshop: will provide practice teams and learners with the opportunity to share their individual site changes and achievements during phase two of project. Through this workshop, the establishment of the IPE Consortium is commenced, with recognition of the existing network and the beginning of extending the interprofessional learning opportunities more broadly in the community.
Conversational templates: are used by the interprofessional groups at each site. These templates will provide guiding points for reflection and a tool for collecting themes and observations to provide insight for team members and researchers into how the group is progressing. Content analysis of these templates will be undertaken to identify themes and emerging patterns.
Field Notes: an all encompassing term for whatever collection of personal writings is relevant to the person involved in the project. All field notes will be used by the principal investigators to form the learning narratives.
- Participant Field Notes consist of the self report and phase three interview transcripts
- Coaches and Champions Field Notes consist of the self report, journals and phase three interview transcripts
- Team Field Notes consist of conversational templates, focus group and workshop transcripts
- Principal Investigators Field Notes consist of their personal reflections maintained throughout the project
Interprofessional education: occasions when two or more professions learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care (CAIPE, 1997 revised http://www.cihc.ca/resources/glossary.php).
The Interprofessional Education Perception Scale (IEPS): developed by Leucht et al. (1990) is a perceptual/attitudinal inventory consisting of 18 response items. This scale focuses on the measurement of four attitudes important to interprofessional settings:
- Professional competency and autonomy
- Perceived needs for professional cooperation
- Perception of actual cooperation and resource sharing within and across professions
- Understanding the value and contributions of other professionals/professions (Leucht et al. 1990).
Journal: a record kept by coaches and champions for the duration of the project to allow reflection on:
- daily activities
- interactions among team members
- process of the project including the changes that have occurred
- what it means to be a member of the team
- the team culture
- emotions experienced
- the impact of the project on interprofessional education.
Learning Narratives: The Principal Investigators will create a collection of participants’ stories and experiences derived from all of the field notes maintained throughout the project, including their own field notes and reflections. The learning narratives will allow consolidation and evaluation of the project process. The learning narrative will become a repository of experiences to be shared among and across teams during the collaborative workshop to illustrate growth and foster further creativity. The learning narrative will also be shared at the final immersion conference to describe the innovation and changes experienced during the project.
Practice genograms:provide a way of visually representing practice behaviours and relationships within the collaborative group. The Practice Genogram is a variation of the Family Genogram, an assessment tool commonly used by family physicians to identify patterns of family interaction and provide insights about system strengths and vulnerabilities (McIlvain et al. 1998). Visually, the Practice Genogram is similar to an organizational chart, with the addition of elements that identify the informal, emotional and relational patterns within the structure. Information used to construct the Genogram will be based on observational field notes and interviews, both formal and informal. Genogram use will involve experienced field researchers being present within the practice setting, providing feedback to the team concerning practice patterns and the team then defining quality indicators that will guide their work through the two years. This process will be monitored and supported throughout its duration by members of the project team as well as external experts. A data analysis tool called Symlog will also assist in the interpretation of data gathered through team observations.
Project operations group: will complement the work of the Steering Committee, and will meet every two weeks at the onset, then monthly thereafter to provide day-to-day operational support for the study; membership will be comprised of the project co-chairs, project manager and other team memberships as required
Regenstrief Survey of Organizational Characteristics: This tool was developed at the Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine (2004). It consists of a brief questionnaire (twenty items) encompassing organizational elements such as communication, productivity, openness, security, support, and opportunities for learning and growth. The respondent is asked to consider his/her work experiences within their organization and to indicate, on a 9 point scale, two perceptions: a) where the organization is today and b) where it should be.
Relationship centred health care: Relationship-centred health care focuses on relationships as central to the provision of quality health care. It is premised on the understanding that all interactions are informed by a fundamental commitment to mutual respect, self-awareness, humility, openness, and caring. Relationships can exist on many levels such as those between: practitioners and patients, patient to patient, practitioners and their practice communities, professionals, administrators and managers.
Essential to the establishment of relationship-centred health care are:
- critical self-reflection to enhance self-awareness;
- employing a caring, healing ethic that preserves the dignity and integrity of the patient;
- elimination of power abuses or inequalities; and
- encouraging active patient/family collaboration.
(http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/cefm/rcc.htm)
Self Report: is a dynamic document created at the beginning of the project by each participant and consists of demographic information about the agency and the composition of the team and reflections of the team in the following realms:
- Team: context of the group and how it functions
- Diversity: the various disciplines, professions, educational preparation and experience represented
- Difference: team members’ values, beliefs, and approaches to practice
- Educational Dimension: Current student profiles (if learner), previous experience with students (if practitioner), approaches to junior versus senior learners.
As participants experience the process, they will add reflections regarding the stated domains to the self-report. The self report will be analysed through qualitative content analysis.
Steering/Advisory Committee: will provide project oversight and reflect the nature of partnerships inherent within the project. This group will ensure that timelines are met and that fiscal and human resources are used wisely and within budget limits and guidelines.
Membership includes:
- Project Co-Chairs (2)
- Site representatives (3/4)
- Investigative team members (3)
- Two student representatives: these students will be drawn from the Interprofessional Student Council that is a part of the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University. Students selection will be for one year periods, and will represent the disciplines involved in the project across the duration of the project (2)
- Two patient/consumer members; invitations to participate in this project will be given to patients who sit on the patient committees within the three study sites and members selected from those who volunteer (2)
- The Project Manager (1)