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Purpose: The principles of interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) are illustrated through the case of Mary, a child with severe disabilities.
Method: Mary's experiences from early childhood to young adulthood are highlighted by both optimal and less-than-ideal examples of clinical services and collaborative practice. The range of collaboration illustrates potential variations in service delivery. Thematic comments and resources are provided by professionals experienced with and committed to IPCP who represent the following four disciplines: occupational therapy, physical therapy, special education, and speech-language pathology.
Conclusions: Although potentially challenging, IPCP is a dynamic practice methodology appropriate for speech-language pathologists and others serving persons with severe disabilities.
To draw this special American Journal of SpeechLanguage Pathology clinical forum on interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) to a close, this article presents a practical example of IPCP with Mary, a child who has severe disabilities. Before presenting Mary's case, it may be helpful to provide a brief review of IPCP. As discussed by Ogletree in the introduction to this forum, IPCP is, at best, a practice ideal. The IPCP professional is patient and family centered and concerned with both community-based and relationship-focused service delivery (World Health Organization, 2010). He or she works with other disciplines, patients, and all stakeholders in processoriented and outcome-driven practice settings (Ogletree, 2017). There, the IPCP professional practices collaboratively with others in an intentional and integrated fashion.
Interprofessional practice has been embraced by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2013), and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) increasingly find themselves working with other professionals across practice venues. Team models vary from those that traditionally lack collaborative opportunities (e.g., multidisciplinary) to those that can be very collaborative (e.g., interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary; Ogletree, 1999). Although it is fair to say that professionals have been working side by side and providing team-based services for decades, the continuous, reflective, and purposeful service provision described as IPCP is relatively new and only characteristic of the most collaborative and committed teams. Sylvester, Ogletree, and Lunnen (2017) put it best when they described IPCP as "a dynamic process that transcends various team structures."
Throughout this forum, IPCP has been proposed as an appropriate practice strategy for persons with severe intellectual and physical disabilities due to the complexities inherent in this population's care (this becomes abundantly clear in the case...