The Effects of Interprofessional Education in Mental Health Practice: Findings from a Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of studies describing the effects of interprofessional education (IPE) on undergraduate healthcare students’ educational outcomes, compared with conventional clinical training in mental health. METHODS: MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsychINFO, and EMBASE were searched for studies published in January 2001–August 2017. All retrieved papers were assessed for methodological quality; Kirkpatrick’s model was employed to analyze and synthesize the included studies. The following search terms were used: undergraduate, interprofessional education, and educational outcomes. RESULTS: The eight studies that met the inclusion criteria were highly diverse regarding the studied IPE interventions, methods, and outcomes. Participants included students receiving clinical training in mental health from the following professions: medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, and social work. The results of the studies suggest that students respond well to IPE in terms of more positive attitudes toward other professions and improvement in knowledge and collaborative skills. Limited evidence of changes in behavior, organizational practice, and benefits to patients was found. CONCLUSION: Based on the eight included studies, IPE interventions appear to have an impact regarding positive attitudes toward other professions and increased knowledge of and skills in collaboration compared to conventional clinical training. However, further study of both the processes and the long-term impacts of undergraduate IPE in mental health is needed. The authors recommend that service users are involved in the implementation and evaluation of IPE interventions in mental health to undergraduate healthcare students.