Understanding Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: a firm foundation for Allied Health Student Education

Authors

• Isabel A. Paton, Charles Sturt UniversityFollow
• Narelle T. Patton, Charles Sturt UniversityFollow
• Anne Croker, University of NewcastleFollow

Abstract

Purpose: Accompanying the contemporary need for a collaborative practice ready health workforce is a focus on health student preparation for interprofessional collaborative practice. This research explored allied health pre-registration student preparation for interprofessional collaborative practice. Further, this examination illuminated new understandings of interprofessional collaborative practice itself. Methods: Informed by philosophical hermeneutics, this research involved two studies. One study was drawn from interpretation of the literature. The other study drew from 24 academic and student participants’ experiences from five allied health professions, accessed through semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Thematic interpretation was used to highlight key themes and topics. Results: This research revealed interprofessional collaborative practice to be unequally and dynamically shaped by six key shapers within and across structural, social, and personal domains. These shapers were: in-situ standards and physical environments (structural); interpersonal engagements and evident reciprocity (social); individual contributions and embodied endeavours (personal). Using practice theories to examine these shapers may provide a firm foundation for the development of interprofessional collaborative practice ready allied health graduates. Conclusion: Allied health educators are invited to reflect on the shapers and construct education approaches to make the shapers explicit, enable students to engage with the dynamic interplay between shapers, navigate tensions created by shapers and explicitly develop student capability to respond to and work within the shapers of interprofessional collaborative practice. This research brings fresh insight into understandings of allied health student preparation for interprofessional collaborative practice.

Author Bio(s)

Dr. Isabel Paton (PhD, Grad. Cert. in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Grad. Cert. in Public Health, Grad. Cert. in Business Administration, Ba. Physiotherapy, SFHEA) is an Associate Head of School and Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at Charles Sturt University, Australia. She is also a registered, practicing physiotherapist in Australia.

Assoc. Prof. Narelle Patton (PhD, SFHEA ,AFHERDSA) is the Associate Dean Work-Integrated Learning in the Faculty of Science and Health at Charles Sturt University, Australia. She is also a registered physiotherapist in Australia.

Dr. Anne Croker (PhD) is an Honorary Lecturer and Research Fellow at University of Newcastle, Australia. She is also a registered physiotherapist in Australia.

Acknowledgements

Footnote: This research recognises the importance of using appropriate linguistics and terminology that are true to the research methodology. This article refers to text construction and text interpretation instead of data collection and data analysis to align with the philosophical hermeneutic research approach. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Emeritus Professor Joy Higgs for her early contributions to this research.

Recommended Citation

Paton IA, Patton NT, Croker A. Understanding Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: a firm foundation for Allied Health Student Education. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice. 2026 Jun 01;24(2), Article 15.