A case study on reflective practice meetings as an example of interprofessional education (IPE) within a specialist secure forensic adolescent mental health setting in the UK

Abstract

Learning with, from and about each other within a multidisciplinary forum of Reflective Practice Meetings (RPMs) encourages individuals to gain a shared understanding of the nature of the caring task, offers an insight into differing (inter)disciplinary perspectives and builds a collaborative ethos in the team’s approach to care. Despite such noticeable benefits of working collaboratively, there are challenges that often hinder this within the clinical practice environment. RPMs can be identified as an example of interprofessional education (IPE) within a clinical setting. There is a plethora of drivers calling for the relationship between interprofessional education, collaboration and interprofessional working practice (IPW) to be fully realised in order for benefits to be embedded within the fabric of the health, education and social care systems. Therefore, one of the ways of encouraging a shared understanding that fosters collaborative approaches amongst professionals is to provide opportunities that encourage an open dialogue such as an RPM. Engaging with each other enables individuals to realise the ‘collaborative advantage vision’, leading to the social construction of knowledge and co-creation of a shared understanding of the nature of the caring task. Despite the divergence of opinion within the literature, there is a general acknowledgement and consensus about the immense benefits of embedding IPE and collaborative approaches within the health, education and social care systems. This thesis argues that RPMs are an example of IPE. As a result, a study was conducted within a specialist Secure Forensic Mental Health Service for Young People (SFMHSfYP (The Unit). The study is underpinned by IPE informing theory couched within a framework. The framework provides a lens to explore the research questions that were derived from the literature review. Methodologically, a case study approach (single site) is operationalized. The data collection methods included conducting Participant Observations, audio recording of RPMs, completion of Reflective logs (by participants), and audio recordings of One-to-One semi-structured interview. The data analysis process entailed transcribing of audio recorded material verbatim and this was followed by employing a thematic analysis of content. Three themes emerged namely; Nature of the Caring task, “Keeping the show on the Road”, and Use of Space. A critical descriptive analysis of the themes is presented within the findings chapter. This is followed by a critical analysis of the super-ordinate themes, thus providing refined research study outputs of the processes that occurred within the RPMs namely; Communication and sharing information, Negotiation of different value systems, Power relations and reflections on power, Emotional offloading, and Personal and group reflection. The study recommends that further research is required in order to extend the field of IPE in particular understanding the role of the unconscious processes within a reflective practice context

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ORCID for Michaela Brockmann: orcid.org/0000-0003-4978-1883

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