Integrated care: challenges for professions and interprofessional education

Background : Commissioned by the Dutch minster of Health, Welfare and Sport a national advisory committee was installed advising the government on the need for future professions and education in the broad field of prevention, cure, care and welfare from an integrated care perspective. This advisory committee used as points of departure: (1) the demand of care in 2030 instead of the supply; (2) functioning instead of the disease or medical problem; and (3) the ability to adapt and self-manage instead of a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being. The committee published two reports (one on professions (2015) and one on education (2016)). Four regional breeding grounds were appointed by the committee to assess the challenges and develop initiatives in an interactive way involving citizens, professionals and educators. Aim and objectives : During this workshop a member of the national committee will highlight the findings of both reports. Then we will focus on one of the Dutch breeding grounds, the region of South-Limburg. We will present and discuss how interprofessional education is being developed and implemented in vocational and academic programmes, embedded in primary care and other health care settings. As part of these activities, two students will present their initiative aiming at shifting future healthcare professionals’ focus from the disease to a person’s functioning. The workshop will provide sufficient room to exchange experiences with the audience during a discussion part. Questions that could be raised are: what are the challenges we face? Do we need other professions or other educations? What are the implications for educating our future professionals working in practice and policy? What kind of approaches can be seen in other countries in order to learn from each other? Target audience : The target participants are all those working in policy, practice, education and research with the passion to provide our (future) populations with high-quality, accessible and affordable health care from an integrated care perspective.  Learnings/Take away : This workshop will provide insight in the importance and necessity of interprofessional education for integrated care by presenting examples and exchanging ideas of initiatives from different countries.