Building Bridges: Establishing a Foundation for Interprofessional Collaboration in Healthcare (Revised)

Reviewed by Andrea Quinn, Adjunct Professor, Worcester State University on 6/2/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This book provides a foundation of knowledge that can be used by a variety of health care professions. It's real-life scenarios are practical for student application.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

This book provides the foundation skills for students to start to learn the importance of professional communication and collaboration.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content provides a foundation of knowledge and skills that can be applied to a variety of disciplines which are true in a variety of healthcare settings.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is presented in a user friendly, easy to digest format with opportunities for practical application of knowledge.

Consistency rating: 5

The book focuses on four core competencies and discusses them thoroughly.

Modularity rating: 5

The book is well organized and easy to follow.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The topics are presented in a logical and clear fashion.

Interface rating: 5

The text was easy to access online. No interface issues experienced while reading this text.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors noted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

This text provides the basics for communicating in a culturally sensitive manner.

Reviewed by Patricia Hunt, Assistant Professor, Marshall University on 1/12/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The content and organization of the textbook are appropriate and effectively establish a foundation for understanding the importance of interprofessional collaboration in healthcare. Throughout each chapter, the text emphasizes the core competencies of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) and their role in successfully establishing interprofessional collaborations among various healthcare stakeholders.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The text is free of errors and biases. It provides accurate, up-to-date information that helps students and professionals understand interprofessional collaboration.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content is relevant and organized in a way that allows for easy updates or adaptations for different courses. It includes foundational terms that can be easily modified to suit specific professions.

Clarity rating: 5

Each chapter of the book includes important terms and key takeaways to enhance understanding and clarity. The text is written clearly and concisely, providing definitions for essential healthcare terminology to help students build the necessary background knowledge.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent and uses the Interprofessional Education Collaborative’s (IPEC) core competencies as the foundation for successful partnerships within the healthcare system.

Modularity rating: 5

The content of the text is easy to follow to create connections between chapters. The text includes appropriate breaks between chapters and uses relevant graphics, links, and activities to increase comprehensibility of the text.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization of the text is effective and logical.

Interface rating: 5

The interface of the text is easy to navigate, making it simple to find images, references, and additional information that supplement the content.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There were no noticeable grammatical errors in the text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The text does not directly address a wide range of cultural considerations. However, by focusing on health disparities, values, and social determinants of health, it acknowledges the positive impact that interprofessional collaboration can have on diverse populations. Future editions of the book could include specific considerations for various cultural and linguistic communities.

This textbook would be highly valuable for both undergraduate and graduate speech-language pathology students, helping them understand the roles of various healthcare providers and how to establish successful collaborations that enhance the therapeutic process.

Reviewed by Shirley Acquah, Associate Professor, Westfield State University on 6/7/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text establishes the importance of teamwork and effective communication in patient-provider interactions. Most importantly, it acknowledges that interprofessional teamwork in healthcare requires a good understanding of each person's roles and responsibilities. The competencies outlined in each chapter are vital for successful teamwork, patient satisfaction, and improved health outcomes.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content focuses on social determinants of health, health disparities, values, ethics, law, and issues of patient privacy. For each chapter, the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) core competencies are clearly emphasized. Information is accurate, I didn't notice any bias.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The information is mostly relevant to students in the healthcare disciple and healthcare professionals. The topics discussed for each chapter are subject to updates and it would be helpful to include those in the future.

Clarity rating: 5

The sentences are simple, clear, and easy to understand. The key takeaways and vocabulary at the end of each chapter is also helpful.

Consistency rating: 5

The information is consistent with the healthcare discipline and practice. The chapters are connected and allow for easy comprehension.

Modularity rating: 5

The inclusion of reference links, short videos, adventure activities, graphics, and relevant images are helpful for both instructors and students. Information from the chapters can be assigned as individual or group project.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Short chapters and logical organization of information – learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter is helpful.

Interface rating: 5

The inclusion of images, videos, scenarios, and activities makes the text user-friendly.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I didn’t notice grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The text briefly references cultural humility. For example, in Chapter 3, it states “Practice cultural humility in interprofessional teamwork.” (p.21) I didn’t notice specific discussions on cultural relevance in healthcare. Given that the text focuses on teamwork and competencies, it might be useful to include information on cultural awareness needed to improve patient interactions. The text is not culturally offensive or insensitive.

Overall, the text is relevant to the healthcare discipline and profession. The activities included in the chapters makes it engaging and interactive for both instructors and students.

Reviewed by Tracy Hall, Program Coordinator and Instructor, Moraine Valley Community College on 3/18/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text covered a good basic understand of the 4 competencies built by the Interprofessional Education Collaborative Expert Panel, 2023. The idea and glossary were also easy to locate and follow.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content was unbiased and used great references and stated widely known facts as well. It had a good mix of perspective types such a social, governmental, and religious organizational thinking on ethics, values, and morals. It also expressed a wide range of professional roles and collaboration. I did not find any errors during my reading. I will read again with a focus more on error search.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content in this book including the references are up to date.

Clarity rating: 5

The text was written using simple language and was easy to understand. The flow of the chapters were outlined very well and flowed well from one chapter to the other.

Consistency rating: 5

The working of the 4 competencies really helped with the continuity of terminology. The key terms provided in each chapter continued to flow into the next, giving the reader a continued use of the term and a good understanding of the terminology. The wort Team was highlighted in each competency that was used as the anchor for each section.

Modularity rating: 5

Yes! I loved the outline of each chapter. I do have dyslexia and ADD and as an adult and in instructor, It was not too busy with a lot of images and it did not feel daunting to read. I read it via a PDF download and it was easy to scroll through. The text size was good for me as well. Because there are only 100 pages it is easy to find the key points I was looking for.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Yes. The order of each chapter was good. It had good flow and the introduction ladies out perfectly what I was to expect in each chapter.

Interface rating: 5

Yes! I have read the PDF on my phone and on my laptop and I had no issues with text, photos, or links.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not find any grammatical errors. This is not my strong point. I suggest someone else read with me to check this.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I did not find any culturally insensitive information. The examples did not focus on race and ethics but focused on working as a team and developing ethical practices in the team that rolled over to advancing patient care.

I really enjoyed the links to the specific roles or each partitioner and the links to the questions at the end of the book.