The “Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Person-centred Practice through the Humanities” project (IECPCP-Humanities) is a 2-year initiative aimed at modifying the way professionals learn teamwork. The project was supported by a $750,000 one-time grant provided by Health Canada through its pan-Canadian health human resources strategy focused on IECPCP. The main project goal was to provide health professional learners with planned interactions within an interprofessional team setting during their clinical rotations. As they worked with a chosen patient and family, they used a framework of the Humanities to reflect on the health care system and the impact of illness on the patient and family through the lens of interprofessional collaborative team practice.

There is little evidence in the literature to support educational interventions dealing with the roles of other professions early in students’ education, as students do not have enough knowledge or understanding of their respective roles to participate in collaborative patient-based practice (Petrie 1976; D’Amour, Oandasan 2004). However, it has been suggested that early educational interventions are necessary to prevent the development of “silos,” which result from each profession’s educational and socialization processes (Hall 2005).

We propose that the Humanities can provide a focus for collaborative interactions regardless of the learner’s level of training or discipline. Through creative learning activities, students from different professions should have common learning opportunities that will allow them to focus on a common learning object (the theory of “idea dominance” proposed by Petrie 1976). Each learner must interpret information through the filter of his/her own learning and then share this with the other learners in the group, using appropriate collaborative skills (Hall 2005). This interchange facilitates the development of a common language (Cowley et al 2002) and a common conceptual approach for the learners, based on common values that transcend those of each specific profession (Sands et al 1990). These learning opportunities should therefore teach the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary for interprofessional collaborative practice (Norsen, Opladen, Quinn 1995).

For the learners who came to Bruyère Continuing Care for their clinical placement in 2007 - 2008, we provided an experiential interprofessional person-centred learning activity based in the Humanities. The skills they learned should serve as the base upon which they can build interprofessional collaborative person-centred practice as they progress through their educational programs.

The main project goal was to provide health professional learners with planned interactions with an interprofessional team during their clinical rotations. As they worked with a chosen patient and family, they used a framework of the Humanities to reflect on the health care system and the impact of illness on the patient and family through the lens of interprofessional collaborative team practice.

The Humanities consist of four pillars: human experience, historical perspectives, law and ethics, and professionalism. The project objectives were:

• To foster an increased understanding among preceptors and professors of the Humanities in health care, adult education and learning technologies through a bilingual Interprofessional Person-Centred Humanities (IPCH) learning module.
  
• To improve interprofessional person-centred teamwork and understanding of collaborative person-centred care in the long-term care, complex continuing care, rehabilitation and palliative care programs at the Bruyère Continuing Care.
  
• To foster an increased understanding among learners at the Bruyère Continuing Care of the Humanities in health care and interprofessional collaborative practice through a learning module