Interprofessional Cancer Education to Enhance Patient Care

Improved patient care is at the heart of a project designed to train cancer health professionals to provide cancer education to their peers.

Funded by Health Canada, with Cancer Care Nova Scotia as the project lead, Partners for Interprofessional Cancer Education has trained 38 health professionals from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island as facilitators, including five from Capital Health and two from the IWK Health Centre.

The training provides expertise in interprofessional learning -- a greater appreciation of each others' values, knowledge and abilities; collaborative, patient-centred care and cultural sensitivity; and safety for First Nations communities. Facilitators will educate more than 1,100 community-based health professionals over the next year.

"Canada's government commends Cancer Care Nova Scotia and its partners for their leadership in this project. By April 2008, more than 1,000 Nova Scotian health professionals will be better trained to help cancer patients," said Tony Clement, federal Minister of Health. "The introduction of interprofessional education across Nova Scotia will benefit not only the patients who will receive unprecedented treatment and support, but also the teams of professionals who work in cancer care."

"With the expertise and commitment of districts, and the strength of our other partners, we are extending the value and reach of Cancer Care Nova Scotia's original interprofessional education program, the interprofessional core curriculum," said Theresa Marie Underhill, chief operating officer, Cancer Care Nova Scotia. "Through this project, we are enhancing it, extending the training of health professionals and providing the necessary supports for them to deliver the interprofessional core curriculum to others."

"Interprofessional education programs like PICE are critical to building a cancer workforce with the skills to work effectively in teams to ensure quality cancer care," said Vickie Sullivan, director, Capital Health Cancer Care Program. "These innovations are key to addressing our health human resources challenge."

Health professionals with an expertise in cancer or palliative care were recruited to participate in the training. Medical and radiation oncologists, palliative care physicians and nurses, social workers, pharmacists, nursing students from St. Francis Xavier University and First Nations representatives working in health were among those trained.

"PICE provides an invaluable link for cancer care providers, not only interprofessionally, but also between the pediatric and adult cancer care worlds," said Mary Jean Howitt, registered nurse, IWK Health Centre, who was trained as a facilitator. "Survivors of childhood cancer grow up and PICE along with the ICC modules, have great potential to enhance safety, effectiveness and continuity of care."

The Registered Nurses Professional Development Centre, in collaboration with other partners, implemented the first phase of the project, the development of the facilitator training program. First Nations consultants worked with the Registered Nurses Professional Development Centre to ensure cultural safety and sensitivity was woven throughout the training program. The centre also revised the case studies included in Cancer Care Nova Scotia's interprofessional core curriculum, which facilitators will be delivering.

"As an educator and a learner, I know that any new knowledge and/or skill is most valuable when you can practice and apply it to a real-life experience," said Donna Denney, former director, Registered Nurses Professional Development Centre and co-chair of the Partners for Interprofessional Cancer Education steering committee. "In a learning environment, case studies provide this opportunity. They also serve to reinforce important themes. For this reason, it was important to revise existing case studies to strengthen the interprofessional focus and promote the value of collaborative, patient-centred practice."

Beginning in April, facilitators will deliver the core curriculum program to community-based health professionals in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. The curriculum has 10 modules including, pain and symptom management, treatment and side effects. By April 2008, 1,100 health professionals will have a better knowledge in these areas as well as an improved understanding and appreciation of the expertise of their team members and the community resources available to patients and families. The curriculum will also be included in the undergraduate nursing program at St. Francis Xavier University.

"Interprofessional learning is about so much more than the content," said Anne Murray, Cancer Care Nova Scotia provincial manager, education and patient navigation. "It's about pulling all the pieces of the puzzle together, gaining knowledge in a specific area, getting to know fellow team members, learning from each other, understanding how people think and the expertise and value they add. Interprofessional learning builds stronger teams and stronger health teams mean improved patient care."

As part of the project, Cancer Care Nova Scotia will help facilitators develop a community of practice to build interprofessional knowledge and expertise through better interaction.

An evaluation, led by Dalhousie Continuing Medical Education, for both facilitators and participants will cover both intended and self-reported changes in practice. Possible ways for evaluating the project from the patient perspective are also being discussed.

In addition to Cancer Care Nova Scotia, Partners for Interprofessional Cancer Education includes: district health authorities, the IWK Health Centre, the Registered Nurses Professional Development Centre, Dalhousie University Continuing Medical Education, Dalhousie University College of Pharmacy, Division of Continuing Pharmacy Education, the Union of Nova Scotia Indians, the Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq, St. Francis Xavier School of Nursing, Seniors' Secretariat and Prince Edward Island Department of Health.

Cancer Care Nova Scotia is a program of the Department of Health, created to reduce the burden of cancer on individuals, families, and the health-care system through prevention, screening, education and research.