The importance of health equity in interprofessional practice

July 19 2021

Interprofessional practice is central to supporting ageing populations, particularly in community settings. A new paper led by Dr Melissa Carey sheds new light about what existing research can tell us about promoting health equity in this context.

Her review, conducted with QUT colleague Dr Melissa Taylor, explored the literature for evidence of the impact of interprofessional practice models on health service inequity, particularly within community care settings for diverse ageing populations. They identified a need to improve collaborative practices between social care, public health care and health service providers, and to more clearly define team member roles. A key conclusion is that future innovations in health service delivery need to place health service equity as a goal for interprofessional practice and measure the impact for vulnerable populations and communities.

Melissa highlights that a key take home message is that “the most successful models of inter professional practice incorporate local health care workers in positions of power, for example Indigenous nurses, or community health workers.”

The paper identifies an urgent need to review the link between education and practice and to establish evidence for best practice in interprofessional care that has the mitigation of health care inequity as a central objective.