Interprofessional Collaborative between Social Work and Pharmacy: Rehabilitation Practitioner Needs Assessment and Training

Background and Purpose: The importance of interprofessional collaborative services has recently received attention with the goal of improving health care outcomes and delivery. Clients with mental illness often face complex medical and psycho-social issues that warrant interaction and coordination from multiple professions. Yet, there is a scarcity of evidence of interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and social workers as well as the outcomes of such collaboratives. The aim of this project is to develop and evaluate the outcome of a training activity collaboratively developed by social work and pharmacy faculty. Here we report the results of a needs assessment that laid out the foundation for the educational activity.

Methods: The needs assessment focusing on rehabilitation practitioners’ competence and perception of importance around clients’ medication education, medication management, and collaboration among health care practitioners was developed using modified Hennesy-Hicks Training Needs Analysis and Questionnaire Manual. It consisted of 4 open-ended questions and 10 statements using a Likert scale. All participants were rehabilitation practitioners at one agency in the Northeast of the United States. These practitioners serve individuals living with mental illness in supported housing or group home settings. The agency staff administered the anonymous survey through Qualtrics. Univariate quantitative data were analyzed in Qualtrics. Qualitative data were analyzed by two coders using thematic analysis methods.

Results: The needs’ assessment response rate was 52% (57/100). It revealed that practitioners’ competence was the lowest in evaluating the client’s strengths and needs related to medications, 4.63 out of 7 on the Likert scale, and 4.79 in their ability to collaborate with other providers regarding client’s medications. At the same time, these were the areas of the most importance for the respondents 5.95 and 5.97 out of 7 on the Likert scale, respectively. Open-ended responses indicated that respondents most often get information about psychotropic medications from websites as well as in-house trainings. Respondents also indicated that the type of medication information that would strengthen their ability to help clients is purpose/indication (20%), additional agency training (14%), and side effects (11%).

Conclusions: The results of the needs assessment guided the development of a training activity for rehabilitation practitioners that focused on psychotropic medication. The activity will be delivered by an interprofessional team of social workers and pharmacists. Its outcome will be evaluated and reported once complete.

Implications: An interprofessional training, such as this, may strengthen the mental health workforce and their ability to support those receiving services. More specifically, an interprofessional training led by social workers and pharmacists may increase mental health practitioners’ confidence and knowledgeable engagement in their clients’ pharmacotherapy and management of associated social determinants of health. Additional research is warranted to examine the long-term implications of interprofessional collaborations between social workers and pharmacists and offer further evidence on the impact it can have on individuals, organizations, and communities.