1. Person, Family and Community-Engaged Practice and Education

The engagement of individuals, families, and communities in the design of care delivery and learning is essential so their interests, beliefs and priorities are reflected in what is defined as mattering most in health, healthcare and the education of the future workforce.

Examples may include models designed to address challenges for patients and families in navigating the health care system and evaluation of those models; advances in enhancing community engagement and capacity; engagement with community members and people, patients, and family members to co-create curriculum; patient/caregiver/advocate-driven initiatives to address challenges navigating health care systems; models of effective teamwork with the patient as a member; ethics of community-engaged learning; or innovative models that utilize advocates (e.g. community health workers, promotores, peer educators, patient navigators, etc.) to facilitate care delivery and support health knowledge.

2. Interprofessional Collaboration and Advocacy to Address Health Equity, Racism and Bias in Practice

This theme aims to build capacity within our community to facilitate conversations and elevate strategies that promote equity in health and break down patterns and behaviors that facilitate racism and bias.

Examples may include strategies to address racism and bias within and among members of the health team including patients and families; examples of addressing individual and systemic racism and other biases; models to improve health equity and address social determinants of health/health-related social needs among marginalized or underserved populations including rural populations; the role of health professionals in advocacy efforts toward improved patient care; cultivating cultural humility in health professions education or practice; or programs supporting leaders in addressing health equity, racism and bias.

3. Building the Evidence Base for Interprofessional Practice and Education

This theme focuses on sharing innovative strategies and models of care and learning that advance knowledge, improve outcomes, and build the case to support interprofessional practice and education. 

Examples may include assessment and evaluation of interprofessional education; program implementation in practice informed by outcomes data; interventions that promote workforce wellbeing and retention; using big data, informatics and the electronic health record for interprofessional innovation; infrastructure and partnership models to enable evidence and outcomes; new models for interprofessional research teams; quality improvement initiatives and student involvement in them; evidence produced using social sciences and humanities theories, or outcomes that address the Quadruple Aim*.

*Enhancing patient experience, improving population health, increasing value, and improving the wellness of the health care team.

4. Advancing Interprofessional Care through Practice-Education Partnerships

The intentional design of practice-education, or Nexus, partnerships with people and communities has the ability to affect learning and health outcomes while promoting meaningful community context to improve the quality of care.

Examples may cross the entire health and education continuum and may include strategies for relationship-building across education and community settings; models of interprofessional practice to improve outcomes (e.g. integrated behavioral health, integrated dental care, etc.); strategies that maximize learner contributions in practice that facilitate health and learning outcomes (e.g. patient education and outreach, screening); workplace learning and continuing professional development; models of leveraging pay-for-performance programs to improve care; community partnerships to impact population health; or partnerships addressing team-based workforce development, burnout and retention.

5. Developing and Sustaining Leadership in Interprofessional Practice and Education

Today’s interprofessional leaders are being called into service in bold new ways as they facilitate practice-education partnerships and support the students, faculty, practitioners and administrators that collaborate to improve health and learning outcomes.

Examples may include new models and programs for developing and evaluating leadership competence in interprofessional practice and education; examples of leadership development designed to advance partnerships and/or teams; initiatives to develop leadership change management skills; strategies to sustain leaders and reduce turnover in interprofessional centers; or synthesis, development and testing of leadership theory to support effective interprofessional teamwork.

6. Preparing Students for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice

This theme is designed to showcase the many ways learning across the continuum - from entry level health-professions students, to advanced learners, to practicing teams - is occurring to realize the potential of effective interprofessional collaborative practice.

Examples may include innovative models to prepare students for teamwork and collaboration in practical settings - both in community and clinical settings; new ways to demonstrate readiness for practice, including novel assessment modalities; technology-inclusive and/or driven models (AI/machine learning, simulation, telehealth, EHR, etc.); preparing faculty to teach and evaluate students in settings that may be multidisciplinary or not yet interprofessional; interprofessional practice and education curriculum; optimizing the interprofessional practice environment for learning; ethics in interprofessional practice; informal and workplace learning models; student-patient collaborations and/or interactions; faculty/preceptor development and deployment; or student-led and engaged initiatives and collaborations.