Patients’ Experiences of Interprofessional Care: A Narrative Inquiry

Interprofessional care (IPC) has been discussed in the literature as having the ability to lower health care expenditures, decrease wait times, enhance patient health outcomes and increase healthcare provider satisfaction with care-delivery. To date, limited research has been conducted to develop an in depth understanding of patients’ experiences receiving IPC. Using Connelly and Clandinin’s Narrative Inquiry qualitative research approach, three participants were interviewed and asked to engage in a metaphor selection drawing exercise. Participants were invited to describe how they experienced IPC and whether or not they believe person-centered care was delivered to them. Collected stories were analyzed as per Narrative Inquiry approach of three dimensional space: temporality, sociality and place. The National Canadian Interprofessional Competency Framework provided the theoretical lens through which the stories were examined. Along with giving voice to patients, three narrative threads emerged within this study: communication, patient within interprofessional team and interprofessional team members.