Mpofu Ratie, Daniels Priscilla S, Adonis Tracy-Ann, Karuguti Wallace M
University of the Western Cape, Johanasburg, South Africa.
Community Engagement Unit, University of the Western Cape, Johanasburg, South Africa.
Rural Remote Health. 2014;14(3):2671. Epub 2014 Sep 2.
Poverty, limited access to resources and a lack of infrastructure characterise the division of rural areas from urban South Africa. Low numbers of social welfare professionals compound the problem. With education linked inextricably in social responsibility, higher education institutions (HEIs) are called upon increasingly to create conditions that encourage students and graduates to practise in more socially responsible ways, involving more than mere disciplinary expertise or technical knowledge, and that consider the problems of rural areas. Use of interprofessional education (IPE) programs, based on teamwork, could enable HEIs to train and guide health sciences students in how best to cooperate with each other and combine their skills to mutual benefit. This would enable them to develop professional skills facilitated by interactive engagement within community settings.
Referencing experience gained in Australia and elsewhere, the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences (FCHS) at the University of Western Cape (UWC) has developed and applied an IPE program for South Africa. Students were placed in interdisciplinary groups in a rural and underserved municipality of the Western Cape - 17 students participated in a study on the effectiveness of this program. A quantitative self-administered questionnaire, followed by qualitative focus group discussions, established student perceptions of their IPE experience, how the experience influenced their intentions for or against future practice in rural and underserved areas, and their interest in future interprofessional collaboration and practice.
More than 75% of the participating students agreed that they had learnt to develop knowledge base, procedural and healthcare practice presentation skills, along with preparing written community health histories. Student willingness to practise in rural areas was evidenced, citing community- and resource-based factorsasdeterminants; however, concerns that some community members had 'own agendas' were expressed. Nearly all students highly appreciated their learning and service delivery development, but 47% felt that their educational experience did not go as far as expected. Student concerns were a lack of structured student placement for IPE to occur in the program, as well aslimited staff supervision of students.
The UWC FCHS IPE program is evidenced as a valid approach to encouraging health sciences students and graduates to choose to practise in more socially responsible ways. However, improvement of placement and supervision methodology and practice should be explored at faculty level and implemented in future IPE programs.
贫困、资源获取受限以及基础设施匮乏是南非农村地区与城市地区相区分的特征。社会福利专业人员数量稀少使问题更加严重。鉴于教育与社会责任紧密相连，高等教育机构（HEIs）越来越多地被要求创造条件，鼓励学生和毕业生以更具社会责任感的方式执业，这不仅涉及学科专业知识或技术知识，还需考虑农村地区的问题。基于团队合作的跨专业教育（IPE）项目的应用，可使高等教育机构培训并指导健康科学专业的学生如何最好地相互协作并结合各自技能以实现互利。这将使他们能够通过在社区环境中的互动参与来培养专业技能。
借鉴在澳大利亚和其他地方获得的经验，西开普大学（UWC）社区与健康科学学院（FCHS）为南非开发并应用了一个IPE项目。学生们被分成跨学科小组，安排在西开普一个农村且服务欠缺的自治市——17名学生参与了该项目有效性的研究。先进行了一份定量的自填式问卷，随后是定性的焦点小组讨论，以确定学生对其IPE经历的看法，该经历如何影响他们在农村和服务欠缺地区未来执业的意愿，以及他们对未来跨专业合作与执业的兴趣。
超过75%的参与学生同意他们学会了发展知识库、程序和医疗保健实践展示技能，以及编写社区健康史。学生们表现出在农村地区执业的意愿，将基于社区和资源的因素作为决定因素；然而，他们也表达了对一些社区成员有“自身议程”的担忧。几乎所有学生都高度赞赏他们的学习和服务提供方面的发展，但47%的学生觉得他们的教育经历没有达到预期。学生们担心该项目中缺乏进行IPE的结构化学生实习安排，以及对学生的 staff supervision有限。
西开普大学社区与健康科学学院的IPE项目被证明是鼓励健康科学专业的学生和毕业生选择以更具社会责任感的方式执业的有效方法。然而，应在学院层面探索改进实习安排和监督方法及实践，并在未来的IPE项目中实施。 （注：“staff supervision”这里原文可能有误，推测可能是“教师监督”之类更准确的表述，但按要求未做修改。）
