LESSON PLANS

Interprofessional Learning Design for Healthcare Education

Lesson plans are structured pedagogical tools that translate learning objectives into coherent teaching and learning sequences. They make explicit the alignment between outcomes, activities, resources, and assessment, supporting transparency, quality, and transferability across educational contexts. In TEAMCARE, lesson plans represent the main operational instrument for implementing evidence-based strategies for interprofessional education in healthcare.

Design approach and workflow

The TEAMCARE lesson plans were developed through a shared co-design process grounded in the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework. CoI conceptualises learning as the integration of cognitive, social, and teaching presence and was adapted in the project to address the specific requirements of interprofessional collaboration.

Design work was guided by a common Lesson Plan Template, which ensured consistency while allowing contextual adaptation. Each lesson plan specifies:

  • learning outcomes aligned with the TEAMCARE interprofessional competence framework,

  • a three-phase lesson structure (preparatory, operative, and reorganising and assessment),

  • learning activities, resources, digital tools, and assessment strategies.

During the TEAMCARE Pilot Teacher Training, teachers iteratively developed and refined their lesson plans through peer feedback and tutor support, validating both the usability of the template and the robustness of the designs.

LP1. Collaborative Leadership and Interprofessional Decision Making (A1–A3, by Dr. Geraldine Regan & Dr. Catherine Fitzgerald, RCSI).

Shared leadership and decision-making through case discussions and structured group activities.

LP2. Interprofessional Conflict, Management and Resolution (A8–A9, Catherine Fitzgerald & Geraldine Regan, RCSI).

Conflict analysis and resolution using emotional intelligence tools, case work, and action planning.

LP3. Closed Loop Communication (B1, by Dr. Fiona Kent, RCSI).

Patient safety and communication protocols developed through role play, simulation, and debriefing.

LP4. International Classification of Functioning and Multidimensional Patient Assessment (C1–C3, by Dr. Benedetto Giardulli & Dr. Lara Del Bene, UNIGE).

Application of the ICF framework through interdisciplinary case analysis.

LP5. Significant Event Audit in Healthcare (C8, by Dr. Anna Reggiardo, UNIGE).

Incident analysis and collaborative auditing using the SEA methodology.

LP6. Care Management Skills, Near Misses and Risk Reporting (E1–E3, by Dr. Maria Vozikaki, HMU).

Care management and patient safety addressed through interactive and case-based activities.

LP7. Introduction to Quality Assessment in Health and Social Care Services (E6–E7, by Dr. Cecilia Capozzi, UNIGE)

Core concepts of quality assessment explored from an interprofessional perspective.

All lesson plans share a common pedagogical structure and are designed to be reusable and adaptable. They support the development of interprofessional competences by integrating collaboration, reflection, and aligned assessment within coherent learning designs.

Application of the Lesson Plan Template alongside Co-Lead Lesson Plans

To further validate the flexibility and transferability of the TEAMCARE Lesson PlanTemplate, the consortium re-elaborated a selection of lesson plans originally developed in the Co-Lead project[1]. These were adapted, mapped against the TEAMCARE Integrated Framework of Competences, and restructured within the standardized template. This process demonstrated how the same structural tool can accommodate diverse thematic foci while maintaining coherence with the overall pedagogical model of TEAMCARE.

The selected plans address different aspects of interprofessional collaboration and person-centred care, from safety-critical communication to organisational climate. Each follows the three-phase flow defined in the template (preparatory, operative, reorganising/assessment), while contextualising activities to their specific learning outcomes. In this way, the re-elaborated lesson plans both preserve the strengths of the Co-Lead resources and illustrate how they can be integrated into the TEAMCARE framework for healthcare education.

The thirteen re-elaborated lesson plans are available below as downloadable PDF resources.

[1] For further information on the Co-Lead project, please visit their website (https://www.ucd.ie/nmhs/research/ucdiriscentre/ucdirisresearchprojects/collectiveleadershipandsafetycultures/) or consult the following reference:

De Brún, A., Anjara, S., Cunningham, U., Khurshid, Z., Macdonald, S., O’Donovan, R., Rogers, L., & McAuliffe, E. (2020). The Collective Leadership for Safety Culture (Co-Lead) Team Intervention to Promote Teamwork and Patient Safety. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(22), 8673. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228673

LP1. Communicating Safety-Critical Moments using ISBAR

This lesson introduces the ISBAR protocol for safety-critical communication through theory, case analysis, simulations, and reflective debriefing, aligned with TEAMCARE LO A1 on effective communication within interprofessional teams.

LP2. Effective Team Meetings

This lesson focuses on organising and leading effective interprofessional meetings through preparation, practical exercises in chairing and minute-taking, and reflective feedback to enhance collaborative decision-making (TEAMCARE LO A3).

LP3. Building Trust

This lesson highlights the role of trust in fostering a positive team climate (TEAMCARE LO A5) through exercises promoting psychological safety, interactive trust-building activities, and reflective strategies for sustaining team strengths and improvement.

LP4. Collective Leadership for Safety Skills

This lesson examines collective leadership in safety contexts, engaging participants in collaborative decision-making and reflective activities to reinforce shared responsibility and promote a safe, person-centred care culture (TEAMCARE LO A2).

LP5. Developing a Positive Work Environment

This lesson focuses on occupational well-being and burnout prevention, guiding teams to analyse workplace climate, identify protective and risk factors, and collaboratively develop actionable initiatives to enhance workplace positivity (TEAMCARE LO A4).

LP6. Enhancing Person-Centred Care

This lesson focuses on integrating person-centredness into healthcare by analysing patient experiences, engaging with interactive tools like journey mapping, and developing actionable strategies to empower users in care decision-making (TEAMCARE LO C13).

LP7. High Reliability at Team Level

This lesson introduces high-reliability principles in healthcare, engaging participants in analysing system failures, identifying reliability-enhancing practices, and developing team strategies to prevent errors and embed safety in daily routines (TEAMCARE LO C7).

LP8. Removing Frustrations and Blockers

This lesson addresses barriers to effective collaboration by helping teams identify frustrations, explore solutions, and consolidate outcomes into an actionable plan that reinforces collective values and shared goals (TEAMCARE LO B2).

LP9. Risk and Safety Management at Team Level

This lesson focuses on how interprofessional teams collaboratively assess and manage risks through case-based analysis, hazard mapping, and reflection on integrating mitigation strategies into practice (TEAMCARE LO C7).

LP10. Role Clarity

This lesson focuses on clarifying roles within Community-Based Interprofessional Teams through shared reflection, structured role mapping, and synthesis into a clear role chart to strengthen accountability and collaboration (TEAMCARE LO A4).

LP11. Talking about Safety using PlayDecide (Patient Safety)

This lesson uses the PlayDecide game to support structured discussion on patient safety, enabling learners to share information, build consensus on safety scenarios, and strengthen shared commitment to reporting risks and errors (TEAMCARE LO C7).

LP12. Team Goal Setting

This lesson helps teams formulate and agree on collective goals (TEAMCARE LO B2) aligned with their mission and values through structured group work and shared responsibility for monitoring progress

LP13. Team Values, Vision and Mission

This lesson fosters a shared mental model by helping teams articulate and agree on values, vision, and mission through interactive activities and collaborative synthesis (TEAMCARE LO B2).