Inhibiting or Enabling Factors of Institutional and Faculty Culture: Applying Family Systems Theory (for AIHC Mentoring Program Poster Session)

Background: Becoming an interprofessional healthcare provider depends on the cohesive and collaborative nature of the academic and clinical learning environments as well as the educational institutional and healthcare policies that students encounter. The interactive and reiterative nature of these entities has been described by the systems theory approach to interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP). Family systems theory may equally be applicable to IPECP because it focuses on the relational aspects of an individual within a family and between the family and the environment in which it resides. In this context, a student’s peers and salient others within their profession constitutes their “family” which shapes their professional identity. Healthcare and academic institutions are the environments in which the student is embedded and where students may encounter altered role definitions, expectations and hierarchy, as well as loyalty conflicts and culture and belief systems that lead to resistance to collaborative practice. Recognizing the power of these relational dynamics on students as well as faculty, is crucial when designing and evaluating an institution's IPE program. Furthermore, there may be theoretical overlap between systems theory and family systems theory with regard to the various health professions presenting as metaphorical siblings, who seek unique, but complimentary, relevance and resources within the system. These relational dynamics may have merit in framing how institutions develop positive professional and dual identity for students. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to examine institutional culture through the lens of family systems theory to discover enhancers and inhibitors of IPECP.
Design: Literature review of theory that supports the transferrable connections between the institutional systems and family systems.
Results: In institutions, faculty representing diverse health professions seek relevance and resources and may mimic affect and behavior similar to and often seen in family systems between parents and siblings. Faculty affect and behavior can be analyzed as being partly responsible for inhibiting or enabling interprofessional collaboration. Faculty may transfer said affect and behavior to their students. Research suggests family systems theory may be applied to institutional systems to improve interprofessional collaboration.
Conclusion: Application of strategies to improve culture and relations within family systems can be applied to institutional systems to improve culture and relations between faculty to positively influence IPECP.
Reflection: Institutions could use family systems theory to self-assess how their allocation of resources, institutional structures and traditions, and leadership and faculty development influence faculty and student willingness to engage in IPECP.