Development and testing of a scale to assess interprofessional education (IPE) facilitation skills

Introduction: Interprofessional education (IPE) is interactive and constructivist in nature and requires specific facilitation skills to engage participants in a unique body of content, interpersonal interaction, and learning from each other. This article describes the development and testing of a scale, the Interprofessional Facilitation Scale (IPFS), to assess educators' skills in facilitating IPE. Methods: Following participation in an Interprofessional Facilitator Development Program, facilitators provided interprofessional workshops for health professionals caring for patients with cancer. Workshop participants (311 community health professionals) assessed IPE facilitation skills with the use of the IPFS. Results: Psychometric testing of the scale demonstrated high reliability and strong construct and content validity. Factor analysis produced a 2-factor solution that explained 62.1% of the scale variance. The factors "Encouraging IP interaction" and "Contextualizing IPE" were psychometrically rigorous and supported by the literature as being critical to facilitating successful IPE. Discussion: The IPFS can be used in facilitator development as a concise guide to IPE facilitation skills and for assessment and further enhancement of IP facilitation competencies. Further study is required to assess the scale in diverse settings, with preservice learners, and over the longer term.