The ‘Winterthur’ Interprofessional Declaration
2022

Foreword

This declaration articulates policies and actions that will build upon the significant international efforts to advance interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) that have taken place in the twelve years since the publication of the World Health Organization Framework for Action on Interprofessional Education and Practice (WHO 2010). Its articles address the actions necessary to sustain and enhance existing achievements in the implementation of the WHO framework.

The review and articulation of next-stage policies and actions to progress full implementation of the WHO framework is particularly appropriate in 2022. During the last two years, the Covid -19 Global pandemic has highlighted, as never before, the need for effective IPECP and their positive impact, when present, on the quality of patient care. To ensure that the healthcare teams of the future are as well-equipped as possible to meet the challenges they will face, it is essential that the momentum generated since 2010 is sustained and enhanced.

This declaration will be useful to IPECP leaders and champions, policymakers, and patient advocates, providing concrete examples of policies and actions that can be taken to forward the cause of IPECP in their context.

This declaration is premised on the following principles:

• It adopts the World Health Organization’s definition of Health, that health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (WHO, 1948).
• It recognizes the significant progress in response to the call for action in 2010 contained within the WHO Framework and the need to advance this work.
• It commits to the shared goal of ensuring access to interprofessional collaborative health and human services to enhance the health and well-being of all.
• It emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the needs of diverse people and populations are reflected within interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) programs, and that representation and leadership within each local and national health and human services delivery system supports diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Appendix 1 provides information on how this declaration was prepared, including a discussion at the Interprofessional.Global symposium held at the Zürich Universities of Applied Sciences and Arts, Department of Health (ZHAW) in Winterthur in November 2021, from which the name of declaration is derived.

The declaration has been prepared by members of Interprofessional.Global, a worldwide community of educators and clinicians, representing more than 100 countries and 11 regional networks. For letters of endorsement from Interprofessional.Global’s regional networks, see Appendix 4 (coming soon).

The Winterthur Declaration

Through the following articles we, the national and regional interprofessional networks that make up the Interprofessional.Global community, will work to sustain and advance the cause of interprofessional education and Collaborative Practice (IPECP) across the globe.

Article 1

We will advocate for health system changes that foster an environment that supports sustainable interprofessional education and collaborative practice and promotes the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN 2015).

Article 2

We will advance efforts within educational, health, and social care systems to develop and deliver interprofessional education for all health and social care learners by:

• Working with accrediting/regulatory agencies to anchor the collaborative competencies/capabilities within educational program standards.
• Advocating for long-term investment in faculty training and development to facilitate the design and delivery of evidence-based interprofessional education and collaborative practice.
• Advocating for the participation of patients and populations in the design and delivery of IPE.

Article 3

We will advocate for policies that transform the health and social care delivery environment to support interprofessional education and collaborative practice, including:

Redesign of the built environment to support intra-agency, inter-agency, and interprofessional collaboration.

Establishment of sustainable funding models for facilities and personnel that support IPECP.

Investment in life-long learning in IPECP for the current workforce.

Adoption of personnel policies that support collaborative practice and team-based care models.

Provision of support to develop and sustain care delivery models necessary for effective interprofessional collaborative practice.

The delivery of person-centered collaborative care and facilitation of collaborative community partnerships to ensure services meet the needs of people and populations.

Article 4

We will work with the World Health Organization, UNESCO, and other international organizations to support the establishment of interprofessional collaboration as the practice norm.