Contributing to health education

Glenys Wilkinson and our colleague Michael Carpenter led a session discussing interprofessional education. They were joined by colleagues from the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) and the Health and Social Care Professions Council in Ireland (CORU).

Their presentation focused on interprofessional education standards for pharmacists and psychologists in Australia and Ireland.

Glenys presented the APC’s commitment to interprofessional education in our new 2020 Accreditation Standards for Pharmacy Education through the lens of social accountability.
This is an innovative approach to ensuring pharmacy graduates at the point of general registration have the necessary knowledge skills and behaviours to provide safe and contemporary pharmacy services to the public.

“Interprofessional education is so important to pharmacy students. Effective models of heath care emphasise collaboration with other health care professionals to achieve positive patient outcomes.” – Glenys Wilkinson, Executive Director Professional Services.

The audience in the workshop engaged in a lively discussion about implementing standards addressing interprofessional education. They collectively addressed some of the current and perceived enablers and barriers to implementation such as:

• language
• professional identity
• the role of regulators in embedding standards addressing interprofessional education in regulation to improve health outcomes for the public.

The consistent message however is a collective commitment to interprofessional education to improve outcomes for the public.

Josephine spoke about embedding the principles of social accountability in Accreditation Standards to improve education of pharmacists and subsequently the use of medicines.

The aim is to produce pharmacists who can address the present needs of society, such as quality use of medicines, while maintaining a future focus.

View poster: The Role of Accreditation in Improving Use of Medicines

We have a strong focus on embedding social accountability in our standards. It promotes the development of a pharmacy workforce which is not only capable of practising in the contemporary environment but also of adapting to meet emerging and as-yet unknown scopes of practice.

At the APSA conference, our speakers outlined four key areas where social accountability focuses on the service of the community and individuals, and minimising harm, to promote enhanced health outcomes.

The areas were:

• social accountability and Indigenous health (Leanne Te Karu, University of Auckland)
• social accountability and person-centred care (Prof Debra Rowett, University of South Australia)
• social accountability and collaborative interprofessional practice (Assoc Professor Neil Cottrell, University of Queensland)
• social accountability and fitness to practise (Dr Erica Sainsbury, University of Sydney)

This two hour seminar was chaired by our APC Chair Associate Professor Sue Kirsa. The presentation was very well received by the large audience of pharmacy academics and educators, and sparked considerable discussion.

Bronwyn’s presentation outlined Australia’s history involving the world’s longest living culture and how we have and can impact the health of First Nation’s Peoples.

As the standard-setting and accreditation body, we have an important role to play to steer improvements and make a difference. We plan to do this through a six-strand strategy by:

• committing to a Statement of Intent to improve Indigenous health across the National Scheme. (This Statement was signed on 5 July 2018 by all parties developed in close partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and experts)
• collaborating with our accreditation colleagues across the health professions
• researching the current state of play of health profession education re: Indigenous curricula and cultural safety
• setting Standards for education providers and supporting them to achieve them
• training our people in cultural safety and Indigenous history
• leading and educating our profession, through conferences and events

Glenys and Erica spoke about how we define, understand and enact social accountability in pharmacy education.

Social accountability in pharmacy encompasses:

a willingness and ability on the part of pharmacists to

• deliver culturally safe and responsive person-centred care
• address the health care needs of individuals and the wider society
• assume responsibility for the sustainable use of health care resources
• contribute to the ongoing improvement of individual and societal health outcomes

the obligation of education providers to

• provide education and training programs leading to provisional and/or general registration which promote the development of socially accountable pharmacists
• undertake research and service activities targeted towards addressing the current and future priority health concerns of society
• advocate for, contribute to, and lead practice change for the ongoing improvement of individual and societal health outcomes

Some dimensions of social accountability:

• harm prevention and minimisation
• active promotion of health
• service of contemporary society
• service of future society – workforce needs in uncertain and evolving systems

In February, we celebrated the 10-year milestone of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS). We attended the combined meeting of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), National Boards and Accreditation authorities.

Bronwyn wrote a reflection on these past 10 years from an accreditation perspective.

The combined meeting also launched the National Scheme’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy 2020-2025.

This is a strategy that has been co-designed with Indigenous leaders over many months. Each of the organisations within the Scheme have endorsed it.

This strategy is a significant step within our Scheme and one that aligns with our own APC strategy of Improving Indigenous Health.

We contributed to a session called, “How can accreditation prepare a culturally safe workforce for the future?” The session’s contributors also included our colleagues from the Australian Medical Council, Australian Physiotherapy Council and the Optometry Council of Australia and New Zealand.

Over 160 attendees were able to join in hearing about this important work. And able to see the journey we are travelling together and individually to improve health outcomes for our Indigenous peoples.

Erica discussed with pharmacy students from around Australia how our accreditation standards and its new features impact them as students. In particular, Erica shed light on the overarching principle of Social Accountability and doing good, rather than merely protecting the public.

In the new standards, there is a clearer emphasis on cultural diversity and safety, interprofessional collaboration and skills for students’ future self-education. This is because​:

• what you learn in your degree and intern year is necessary for the present, but not sufficient for the rest of your career​
• to be socially accountable is to meet people where they are, not where you are culturally​
• new scopes of practice are emerging rapidly and we have no way of knowing what future knowledge and skills you may need, so you are going to have to find ways of gaining these yourself

Erica also explained the development of Performance Outcomes, which are what students and interns need to be able to do and demonstrate in order to pass the program.