Realist evaluation of interprofessional education in primary care through transprofessional role play: what primary care professionals learn together

Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) is vital to primary care. Improving IPC requires cooperation between medical and other healthcare professionals. Transprofessional role plays can enhance the quality of IPC; thus, in this study, we conducted transprofessional role plays, based on existing theories regarding IPC and medical education, with healthcare professionals in primary care. As a study design, the realist approach was used to clarify the effectiveness of transprofessional role plays. Five Likert-scale questionnaires regarding the competency of IPC were used to assess the change in perception of medical and care professionals through educational intervention. The realist approach was employed for the clarification of contexts, mechanisms and outcomes of transprofessional role play using one-on-one interview data. Sixty-two medical care professionals participated in the transprofessional role plays, and 31 participants were interviewed. The difference in the score of the competency scale of IPC was statistically significant in all six competencies (p-value <0.001). Three context, mechanism and outcome theories were clarified from the qualitative analysis of the interviews: reflection on others, realisation of own roles and driving humanistic relationship. Additionally, contextual factors, the mechanisms that facilitated them and the clarified outcomes were identified. Ultimately, in this realist evaluation transprofessional role plays proved to be effective in driving IPC in primary care through improving compassion and reliability across professions. The constant provision of the role play and mutual discussion of each professional's role can facilitate effective IPC in primary care.