Building the Primary Healthcare Workforce for Interprofessional Collaboration

In Primary Health Care settings, interprofessional collaboration has gained increased recognition to meet the changing needs of the growing elderly population, and those with several long-term chronic conditions. According to WHO, interprofessional collaboration occurs when multiple healthcare workers from different professional backgrounds work together to provide comprehensive services by working with patients, their families, caregivers, and communities to deliver the highest quality of care across settings [1]. Evidence suggests that collaborative care delivered by a team of health care providers who have experienced interprofessional education (IPE) during their course of training provide cost-effective, person-centered care, and increase patients’ satisfaction due to effective teamwork, and better communication among different health professionals [2]. Considering the primary health care services for the elderly population, a team of diverse health professionals providing well-coordinated care play a critical role in the elderly daily functioning and well-being. There is growing evidence that health care providers trained to work inter-professionally find themselves prepared to contribute as effective members of the collaborative primary health care team.