INPRO - Interprofessionalism in action

INPRO is an international project, co-funded by the European Union, in which higher education institutions and rehabilitation centers work in partnership on aligning interprofessional collaboration. Or to state it more concrete: to further enable a smooth transfer from training in health and social professions to the actual work setting. We are keen to get Interprofessionalism in action!

Why do we do this?

The pressure on the European health care system is increasing considerably: more elderly people and patients with chronic diseases in need of (rehabilitation) care, a diminishing work force and health care costs continuing to rise. Several measures to counteract this are proposed, such as reduction of the length of stay in hospitals or rehabilitation centers by improving interprofessional and person-centered collaboration between health and social care professionals.
Even though there is a lot of attention for interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP), the INPRO-consortium partners sense a gap between competence levels of future professionals and the levels actually needed in rehabilitation practice. Therefore, the transfer from tertiary education to practice concerning IPECP in rehabilitation is the central theme of the project.
By doing so, we ultimately aim to contribute to improving health and quality of life of patients.

How do we collaborate?

Regional bonds between higher education institutions (HEIs) and rehabilitation centers will be strengthened in order to align IPECP. On the one hand we plan to deliver a set of basic and advanced modules on functioning according to the WHO’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and a set of tools to assess the effect of interprofessional skills training. On the other hand we will further develop promising approaches derived from HEIs and from a pilot student-run learning ward. These approaches will be described and tested in regional setting. After an evaluation these approaches will be adapted for use in other regions.
Students and lecturers will be meeting each other online (global classrooms) and – if possible- professionals working in the field will participate in visits  to their colleagues working in rehabilitation centers. In this way, they will be facilitated to learn from each other and see how the alignment from education to the field is being done in the other participating regions.

What will we deliver?

We aim to deliver a range of freely available learning materials, from modules on IPECP theory to guidelines on how to set up and run a student-run interprofessional learning ward in a rehabilitation center or other health care settings. Once ready, these materials will published on this website. Educators may use these materials to be implemented in the core curricula in tertiary education and for lifelong learning in health and social care practice.