What is INVOLVE?
INVOLVE is an interprofessional education (IPE) initiative for pre-registration health and social care professional students. It is offered by the IPE Centre at the University of Otago, Wellington.
INVOLVE provides an opportunity for students from a variety of disciplines to learn interprofessional values through meeting people with long-term conditions.
The initiative includes around 12 hours of teaching and learning, typically undertaken over a four-week period within the students’ regular programme. Students take part in an introductory workshop with a focus on interprofessional collaboration in relation to people with long-term conditions. Then, in small interprofessional groups, they undertake home visits to patients and deliver small group presentations to the INVOLVE class and invited guests.
Students learn about interprofessional communication and co-ordination, teamwork, role clarification, team functioning, shared decision-making and conflict negotiation.
Who are the students?
Students come from the following pre-registration programmes:
- Clinical Psychology
- Medicine
- Occupational Therapy
- Paramedicine
- Pharmacy
- Physiotherapy
- Radiation Therapy
- Social Work
Who are the facilitators?
The facilitators are members of the Wellington Interprofessional Teaching Initiative (WITI).
They come from:
- University of Otago, Wellington
- Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley
- Hospice Wairarapa
- Victoria University of Wellington
- Whitireia New Zealand
What do students say?
"Having the opportunity to actually collaborate on a project with other healthcare students, instead of just learning about the roles, was a much better way to understand the inter-professional dynamic first hand".
Pharmacy student
"Really enjoyed the experience. I found it valuable both interacting and getting a wider picture with a patient and interacting with other students studying different things".
Physiotherapy student
"We worked really well together as a group considering the circumstances of all having very busy schedules. Everyone put the same amount of effort into the preparation of the interview and the presentation and I think it was a good learning experience for us all to hear about a patient’s experiences first hand".
Occupational Therapy student
"Beneficial to all of our learning, being able to actually talk to someone (a patient) with the other health professionals in the same room. It was easy to bounce off talking points to then delve deeper into certain aspects of the person’s health journey".
Medicine student
"We all were able to choose tasks and each section had time and effort put in. For sections which were harder, we worked together and helped each other to ensure we could complete them and discussed ways to improve patient care together with our joint knowledge".
Radiation Therapy student
"I had an amazing group. There were no commanding figures and we were able to work really well together".
Paramedic student
What do teachers say?
“I have facilitated INVOLVE classes for the last couple of years, and students in INVOLVE have always impressed me by how quickly they were able to form working relationships that respect their diverse clinical perspectives within their teams. INVOLVE navigates and equips our future healthcare professionals with real-world problem-solving tools by providing a safe environment to work collectively”.
Ai Sumihira, Social Worker, Te Whatu Ora Wellington
“I really appreciate the opportunity to be involved in this programme. It's great to meet the students from the other disciplines and I really enjoy the presentation sessions and the way students work together to complete the interviews.”
Sue Garrett, Occupational Therapist and University of Otago, Wellington
“INVOLVE is an awesome programme, I wish it was offered when I was at medical school. It gives our medical students the opportunity to practise effective collaborative skills which they will need as part of the future medical workforce. It also allows them to interact with, and learn from, not only their health professional peers, but also patients in the community.”
Emily Cavana, General Practitioner and University of Otago, Wellington
INVOLVE gives radiation therapy students who specialise in cancer care, the opportunity to get to know a range of other disciplines. This helps them to develop a broader understanding of the roles of these disciplines through interacting with, learning about, and from, each other.
Hazel Neser, Radiation Therapist, Hospice Wairarapa and University of Otago, Wellington
Ngā mihi nui
We are grateful to the Wellington General Practices who support the INVOLVE initiative by recruiting people with long-term conditions. We thank the people who share their experiences of what it is like to live with long-term conditions and those who support them to live well.
Find out more
If you are an organisation who wants to know more about IPE or the INVOLVE initiative, please contact:
Professor Eileen McKinlay
University of Otago, Wellington
Email eileen.mckinlay@otago.ac.nz
Tel +64 4 918 5090
If you are a student who would like to participate in the INVOLVE programme, please contact your course director.