AI and collaboration skills proving effective in health-care sector

There is a growing movement in the health-care sector to adopt practices of appreciative inquiry (AI) and collaboration to improve patient care and resource management, according to Dr. Patty Solomon, director of the Program for Interprofessional Practice, Education & Research (PIPER) at McMaster University.

McMaster University is among a number of top schools in Canada to create interprofessional programming, which emphasizes communication and collaboration among different health-care disciplines. In December of 2007 the school created PIPER as a full program area for the school.

“It developed as a program in response to what we perceive as changing culture in both the educational and health-care practice settings,” explains Solomon.

“It is very important for new learners and existing clinicians to be able to practice together collaboratively and that patient care will be much better if they do.”

PIPER teaches health service providers how to effectively work together through communication skills labs and the practice of AI — a constructive approach to organizational development that builds on strengths and what's working.

Having clinicians share positive stories about their work gives other health-care professionals a better idea of their skills and strengths, building a team environment and collaboration, according to Solomon.

“People have a better understanding of each other’s roles and each other’s values and it can open up different kinds of communication and dialogue between health-care professionals,” she says.

The approach can also create a more efficient use of resources, when health-care workers learn how to effectively work together.

For instance, in the Guelph Wellington region, 12 health-service providers are learning interprofessional practice to better serve children aged birth to six. The agencies have partnered to offer a single co-ordinated system of services for children who require multiple types of care.

Denise Watson, program manager at KidsAbility Centre for Child Development, says the community realized the need to work together to improve service.

“We think the system of us politely working in our little silos is just not good enough anymore,” says Watson. “With all the people who need our services and the wait lists . . .we have got to use our resources more smartly.”

Watson says the interprofessional approach will help develop a stronger appreciation of what each health-care provider can do, allowing them to manage their resources better, resulting in more children being cared for.

Elizabeth VanRyn, Trellis Mental Health’s manager of developmental services and member of the network, agrees that agencies and children will benefit by the interprofessional practice approach.

“You don’t have to rely on one specialty’s knowledge you can share information about best practices (among) different fields within the service system,” says VanRyn. “If people are sharing their knowledge then ultimately the product is better for the person who is receiving services.”

For more information on interprofessional practice, click here.

For more information on AI and its approach to organizational development, click here.

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