A Pilot Interprofessional Education Curriculum for Optimizing Mental Health in Chronic Pain Treatment and Understanding Interprofessional Practice

Juliette Perzhinsky; Kathleen A Schachman; Chin-I Cheng; Sally Nagia; Bernard Noveloso; Tamara Sawyer; Brenda L Lepisto; Javeed Sukhera; Elizabeth N Cleek; Margaret S Chisolm

doi:10.7759/cureus.67292

A Pilot Interprofessional Education Curriculum for Optimizing Mental Health in Chronic Pain Treatment and Understanding Interprofessional Practice

Cureus. 2024 Aug 20;16(8):e67292. doi: 10.7759/cureus.67292. eCollection 2024 Aug.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Foundational Sciences, Central Michigan University College of Medicine, Saginaw, USA.
² Nursing, Saginaw Valley State University, Saginaw, USA.
³ Statistics, Actuarial, and Data Science, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, USA.
⁴ Anesthesiology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, USA.
⁵ Family Medicine, Central Michigan University College of Medicine, Saginaw, USA.
⁶ Knowledge Services, Central Michigan University College of Medicine, Saginaw, USA.
⁷ Family Medicine, McLaren Greater Lansing, Michigan State University, College of Osteopathic Medicine, East Lansing, USA.
⁸ Psychiatry, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, USA.
⁹ Operations, The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, Fort Lee, USA.
¹⁰ Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicineniversity School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.

Abstract

Introduction: With the urgent need for clinicians capable of responding to the opioid crisis, an interprofessional education (IPE) pilot curriculum was launched to assess trainee self-efficacy in managing chronic pain and mental health conditions, and attitudes toward interprofessional practice among resident physicians, family nurse practitioners (FNP), and physician assistant (PA) students.

Methods: This study involved the implementation of a pilot curriculum consisting of five interactive IPE sessions. All invited trainees across two academic institutions were asked to complete the assessments. Self-efficacy in managing chronic pain and mental health was measured at baseline and following IPE training using a researcher-developed tool, while attitudes toward interprofessional practice were measured with the Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams scale. Resident physicians were compared to FNP/PA students to examine differences between groups and within groups over time.

Results: The final analysis involved 25 trainees who attended at least one IPE training session and completed pre-session and post-session surveys. The total pre-session survey and post-session survey response rate was 37.5% (n=36). Self-efficacy in chronic pain management improved among the resident physician (mean=3.85 ±0.40) and FNP/PA groups (mean=3.84±0.46) (p=0.05 and p=0.001), respectively. Self-efficacy in mental health management was not significantly improved among resident physicians (mean=3.41±0.49, p=0.48), but improved among FNP/PA students (mean=3.46±0.31, p<0.001). There was no difference in attitudes toward interprofessional practice.

Conclusion: While IPE training did not result in attitudinal changes toward interprofessional practice, it shows potential for improving self-efficacy in managing chronic pain and mental health, particularly among FNP/PA trainees. This study was limited by a small sample size of trainees included in the final analysis.

Keywords: chronic pain; graduate medical education (gme); interprofessional education; mental health; opioid use disorder.

Grants and funding

This project was made possible through a Picker Gold GME Challenge grant from The Arnold P. Gold Foundation (Grant ID# CH-17-002). The funder had no role in the design, implementation, results, or conclusions of this curricular study