Seeing the patient as a person in interprofessional health professions education.

Increasing prevalence of chronic disease leads to an increased need for person-centered care. To prepare future health professionals for this need, educational institutions provide interprofessional education in which they actively involve patients (hereafter called experts by experience). The organization of inter-institutional, interprofessional education with the active involvement of experts by experience poses challenges. To overcome these challenges, a joint student- and expert by experience-led organization was established, named Patient as a Person Foundation. This organization functions as the linking pin between three educational institutions. Jointly, they enabled the involvement of 181 experts by experience in interprofessional education and 1313 students from nine study programs over the course of two curriculum years. To facilitate joint education involving patients, Patient as a Person Foundation realizes three main activities: (a) recruitment and instruction of experts by experience, (b) enabling the inter-institutional organization of education and facilitating its logistics and financing, and (c) universal training of teaching staff. This interprofessional Education and Practice Guide aims to provide lessons on how to sustainably organize interprofessional education involving experts by experience across multiple educational institutions. The key lessons provided in this guide, underpinned by research and key literature, aim to inspire and enable similar initiatives elsewhere.

Involving patients in undergraduate health professions education: What's in it for them?

OBJECTIVES: Patients have become more involved in research, policy, and health professions education. They are involved in teaching students competencies required for person-centred care, but patient benefits have not received proper attention. This exploratory study identifies how patient involvement in health professions education help patients to practice self-management and shared decision-making. METHODS: Individual interviews were conducted with patients (hereafter 'experts by experience') (N = 11) who participated in the Patient As a Person Module, organised for students of health professions in The Netherlands. Additionally, one of their healthcare professionals (N = 10) and family members (N = 9) were interviewed. Directed content analysis was used. RESULTS: Participants reported that sharing lived experiences helped experts by experience to reflect on their preferences regarding health and healthcare, accept their changed selves, and obtain a renewed sense of purpose. They reported gaining insight into the perspectives of healthcare professionals, which yielded more equal healthcare professional-patient relationships. CONCLUSIONS: Sharing their lived experiences with health and health care with students could help patients in practising effective self-management and participate in shared decision-making. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Approaching patient involvement in health professions education from both the perspectives of students and experts by experience, as opposed to students alone, optimises its societal impact.