Advancing Interprofessional Communication: Preliminary Outcomes of a Novel Collaboration Framework in a Student Head Injury Clinic

Document Type (Journals)

Educational Innovations

Abstract

When healthcare providers practice interprofessional practice, care improves, and medical errors are reduced. Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) principles and the Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Patient Performance and Safety (TeamSTEPPS®) frameworks are utilized in healthcare education to develop interprofessional collaborative practice skills, but there is little understanding of how these skills change over time. We sought to evaluate the development of interprofessional collaborative practice skills by examining graduate occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology students' first-hand reports of their experiences over time in an interprofessional head injury clinic. We employed an applied interpretive qualitative research approach longitudinally collecting students’ first-hand experiences in a head injury clinic utilizing the critical incident technique (CIT). We analyzed the students’ weekly critical incident reports about their first-hand experiences, using directed content analysis. The students completed 52 critical incident reports about patient encounters in the head injury clinic. We generated four overarching themes: safety concerns, interprofessional practice, patient progress with collaborative effort, and development of skilled interventions. Our analysis of changes indicated that student experiences shifted substantially over time, with initial safety concerns leveling out and collaborative care efforts increasing over time. There was a clear progression from individual discipline focus to collaborative care practice, with a rise in co-treatments and integrated group sessions. CIT-based assessment of student reports confirmed that experiential learning environments, structured around IPEC principles and the TeamSTEPPS® framework, effectively developed interprofessional communication and collaborative practice skills.

Biography

Dr. Natalia Noce, OTD, OTR/L is an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program. Her expertise is in adult physical rehabilitation, and specifically, stroke, spinal cord injury, brain injury, amputee and orthopedic injuries. Her scholarship interests include interprofessional practice, technology, spatial neglect, and education.

Kelly Ann Peña, M.S., CCC-SLP, CBIST is a speech language pathologist with an interest in neurogenic communication disorders, clinical education, cognitive communication, and interprofessional practice in pediatric and adult populations. Kelly’s professional and clinical experiences in interprofessional practice extend across various medical settings, including the NICU, PICU, inpatient, and outpatient.

Dr. Susan Paparella-Pitzel, PT, DPT, MS is a Physical Therapist, and currently is the Director of the Rutgers Community Participatory PT Clinic, a student-run community clinic. Her areas of scholarship include the use of standardized patients as a teaching tool in Physical Therapy and medical programs and cultural humility education.

Dr. Andrew Lynch, PT, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Physical Therapy Program at Rutgers School of Health Professions. He is the Co-chair of the Clinic Advisory Committee focused on expanding pro bono services and fostering Interprofessional Practice in those clinics.

Dr. Erin Keller, OTD, OTR/L is a practicing Occupational Therapist, recently graduating from the Rutgers with her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy. She works at JFK Rehabilitation Center for patients recovering from head injuries.

Dr. Aaron Dallman, PhD, OTR/L is an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University and a translational occupational scientist. Their research develops and evaluates high-value healthcare interventions (particularly neurodiversity-affirming interventions) to enhance quality of life and promote belonging for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Dr. Pamela Rothpletz-Puglia, Ed.D., RDN is the program director of the Nutrition and Dietetics program at Rutgers School of Health Professions, with 20 years of nutrition practice in pediatric HIV. Pamela’s scholarship focuses on understanding the biopsychosocial context for creating healthy behavior, and she is committed to participatory and team-based approaches.

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.

Recommended Citation

Noce, N., Pena, K., Paparella, S., Lynch, A., Keller, E., Dallman, A., & Rothpletz-Puglia, P. (2026). Advancing Interprofessional Communication: Preliminary Outcomes of a Novel Collaboration Framework in a Student Head Injury Clinic. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 10 (2). Retrieved from https://encompass.eku.edu/jote/vol10/iss2/19