CAIPE (2000) Interprofessional Education 1997-2000- A Review for the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting [Authored by Barr,H.]

The 1997 Review made the case for interprofessional education. This review tests the arguments against the evidence. Findings are reported from UK, English, Welsh and regional evaluations of interprofessional education, a UK-wide review of published and grey literature, and two worldwide reviews based on systematic reviews of Medline and other databases. From over 3,000 abstracts so far scanned during the second worldwide review, 128 have been analysed. Preliminary findings confirm that types of interprofessional education can be distinguished empirically and do lead to different outcomes. Work-based interprofessional education is much more likely than university-based to result directly in changes to practice or benefit to patients. A distinction is drawn between questions capable to be answered by reference to previous research and those calling for prospective investigation by means of longitudinal studies employing a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.