Interprofessional clinical training in mental health improves students’ readiness for interprofessional collaboration: a non-randomized intervention study

BACKGROUND: Over the past decades, the health sector in general has increasingly acknowledged the effectiveness of interprofessional clinical training in enhancing teamwork. In psychiatry, however, knowledge of the benefits of collaborative clinical training is sparse. This study aimed to investigate the impact of interprofessional training on students’ readiness for interprofessional collaboration in a psychiatric ward. METHODS: An intervention study assessed interprofessional clinical training in a training ward. Undergraduate students from the disciplines of medicine, nursing, psychotherapy, pedagogy, and social work were allocated either to an intervention group receiving interprofessional training or to a comparison group receiving conventional clinical training. Outcomes were assessed using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) and the Assessment of Interprofessional Team Collaboration Scale (AITCS). Linear mixed regression was used to compare differences in mean scores postintervention, adjusted for baseline score, gender, and profession. RESULTS: Mean postintervention scores were higher in the intervention group (n = 87) than in the comparison group (n = 108) for both scales (overall sum score). For the RIPLS, the mean difference was 2.99 (95% CI 0.82 to 5.16; p = 0.007); for the AITCS it was 8.11 (95% CI 2.92–13.30; p = 0.002). Improvement in readiness for interprofessional learning and team collaboration in the intervention group remained statistically significant after adjustment for baseline differences between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Students’ self-reported readiness for interprofessional learning and their team collaboration were improved after interprofessional clinical training. Still, further studies of both the processes and the long-term effects of undergraduate IPE in mental healthcare are needed. The study was registered March 62,017 on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03070977 (Retrospectively registrered). ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12909-019-1465-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.