Collaborating Centres
ANNUAL REPORT
Folder eCC_00024558 is in stage Annual_Report_Review
Name of the University, Hospital, Research Institute, Academy or MinistryGunma University
Name of the Division, Department, Unit, Section or Area
Centre for Research and Training on Interprofessional Education
Reference Number

JPN-89City

Maebashi-City

Title

WHO Collaborating Centre for research and training on Interprofessional Education

Report Year

07-2021 to 07-2022

1. Annual report on the agreed workplan
Describe progress made on the agreed workplan. For each activity, detail (1) the actions taken, (2) theoutputs delivered, as well as (3) any difficulties that may have been encountered. Three responses areexpected. [maximum 200 words per activity]. Indicate, if an activity has been completed previously,
has not yet started or has been placed on hold.
Activity 1
Title: Under WHO’s leadership, support WHO in the translation and dissemination of WHO tools and materials
on IPE.
Description: The proposed plan for the new designation period continues the strong support to WHO priorities
around supporting countries in building a fit-for-purpose health workforce as set out in the GPW13 output
1.1.5 (Countries enabled to strengthen their health workforce), in this case by translating and disseminating
agreed WHO publications into other languages.
Increased access to WHO publications will help disseminate good practice and drive innovation in patient
safety, gender equity and digital education, supporting WHO’s ambition to improve the quality and quantity ofhealth workforce in the region.
Increased access to WHO publications will help disseminate good practice and drive innovation in patient
safety, gender equity and digital education, supporting WHO’s ambition to improve the quality and quantity ofhealth workforce in the region.

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ANNUAL REPORT
Status: ongoing(1) Actions taken,In order to increase access to WHO publications, the Centre translated following two publications on patientsafety and gender equity. The publications were broadly delivered to policy makers including Ministry ofHealth, Labor and Welfare, stakeholders, health workers and educators.
1) World patient safety day goals 2020–21: health worker safety: a priority for patient safety (document
number: WHO/UHL/IHS/2020.8)
2) Gender equity in the health workforce: analysis of 104 countries (document number:
WHO/HIS/HWF/Gender/WP1/2019.1)(2) Outputs delivered
1) Japanese Version of “World patient safety day goals 2020–21: health worker safety: a priority for patientsafety” in electronic and paper formats.
2) Japanese Version of “Gender equity in the health workforce: analysis of 104 countries” in electronic andpaper formats.
(3) Difficulties
NoneActivity 2
Title: Under WHO’s leadership, support WHO in collecting evidence for the effect of IPE on attitudes oflearners toward IPE and Collaborative Practice.
Description: The proposed plan for the new designation period continues the strong support to WHO priorities
around supporting countries in building a fit-for-purpose health workforce as set out in the GPW13 output
1.1.5 (Countries enabled to strengthen their health workforce ). The WHO is asking the CC to continue toproduce research and evidence of IPE on health worker training and development to increase the awarenessand uptake of IPE methodologies across the region, in order to strengthen health professional education,
which ensures not just the quality of the health workers, but also the quality of the services they provide.
Professionals’ Education and Training: World Health Organization Guidelines 2013, clearly listed
interprofessional education (IPE) as one of the eleven recommendations.
However, insufficient evidence for the effects of IPE on health issues was also pointed out. To disseminate IPE
under the WHO HRH Policy to scale up and transform health profession education, evidence for concrete
effects of IPE programs on learners’ attitudes toward the needs of the people and eventually higher quality ofthe stakeholders must be acquired. To improve the health system attributes of quality and efficiency, for UHC,
stated in Universal Health Coverage: Moving Towards Better Health, WHO/WPRO 2015, careful scientificresearch needs to be promoted.

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ANNUAL REPORT
Status: ongoing(1) Actions taken
1. The Centre encouraged JIPWEN universities as well as the Centre itself to research on the effect of theirunique IPE programs and publish the findings in the scientific journal. Then JIPWEN universities published thefollowing 7 scientific papers in English.
(2) Outputs delivered
1. KONDO Ken, et al. Effects of a nurse-occupational therapist meeting on function and motivation in
hospitalized elderly patients: A pilot randomized control trial: British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2021,
84.10: 620-627.
2. HARUTA Junji, et al. Validation of the professional self-identity questionnaire for medical students during
clinical practice in Japan: International Journal of Medical Education, 2021, 12: 160-165.
3. HARUTA Junji, et al. Exploring Barriers and Benefits of Implementing Interprofessional Education at Higher
Health Professions Education Institutions in Japan: Journal of Allied Health, 2021, 50.2: 97-103.
4. HARUTA Junji, et al. Development of a Japanese version of the Self-assessment Scale of Interprofessional
Competency (JASSIC): Journal of Interprofessional Care, 2021, 6:1-8.
5. HARUTA Junji, et al. What Role Conceptions Do Multi-Healthcare Professionals Have of Physicians andWhat Role Expectation Do They Have of Physicians in a Community? : BMC Family Practice, 2021, 22.1: 217.
6. HARUTA Junji, et al. How do general practitioners handle complexities? A team ethnographic study inJapan: BMC Primary Care, 2022, 23.1:133.
7. ITO Yuka, et al. Implementing interprofessional education (IPE) in nursing schools: Survey on status andissues prior to rule revision: The Journal of Interprofessional Collaboration in Health and Social Care, 2022,
15.1: 2-10.
(3) Difficulties
NoneActivity 3
Title: Under WHO’s leadership, support WHO in building capacity on IPE through conducting training
workshops.
Description: The proposed plan for the new designation period continues the strong support to WHO priorities
around supporting countries in building a fit-for-purpose health workforce as set out in the GPW13 output
1.1.5 (Countries enabled to strengthen their health workforce). The WHO is asking the CC to create anddeliver training in IPE to increase the capacity and capability of training providers to utlise IPE methodologies
across the region, in order to strengthen health professional education, which ensures not just the quality of
the health workers, but also the quality of the services they provide.

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Collaborating Centres
ANNUAL REPORT
Status: ongoing(1) Actions taken
The Centre offered IPE Training Course 2021 online via zoom, 2021/8/23-27, to support the development ofIPE that can be adapted to various educational and social environments. Participants consisted of nine fromthe Philippines, five from Vietnam, four from Mongolia, two from Indonesia, one from Thailand and Brunei
Darussalam, respectively. Lectures and workshops offered information on the IPE training program at Gunma
University and the Toolkit, which the Centre for Research and Training on Interprofessional Education at
Gunma University had developed for other institutions to use as a checklist when they introduce/improve IPE
programs in their institutions. Guest speakers were invited from the Research Institute of Nursing Care forPeople and Community, University of Hyogo (WHOCC/JPN-77), and JIPWEN universities to provide
participants with further hints for the development/improvement of IPE programs. In addition, a former
participant in the 2016 program from Indonesia was invited to share her experiences of initiating IPE
programs. Participants discussed the development/improvement of their own IPE programs.
(2) Outputs delivered
Participants expressed the willingness to initiate the development/improvement of their own IPE programs.
Participants were also highly willing to extend the networking and research collaboration after completing thecourse and this led the Centre to establish the Asia-Pacific IPE research Alliance later.
(3) Difficulties
None
2. Annual report on other activities requested
Should WHO have requested activities in addition to the agreed workplan, please describe related
actions taken by your institution [maximum 200 words]. Please do not include in this report any
activity done by your institution thatwas not requested by and agreed with WHO.
1. The Centre held a Patient Safety Conference in collaboration with the Gunma Medical Association, andinvited a guest speaker from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. He gave a lecture entitle"The Trends in Medical Measures" in Maebashi, on 17 September 2021, in commemoration of World Patient
Safety Day that promoted by WHO.
2. The Center light up two iconic monuments in Gunma Prefecture, Rinkokaku (Prefectural Guest House) andByakue Dai-kannon (White-Robed Goddess of Mercy Statue), in orange, which is the image color of World
Patient Safety Day as part of the activities of World Patient Safety Day 2021. The light up continued for sevendays.
3. The Centre organized an online international symposium and invited a WHO/WPRO executive officer. He
made a presentation titled “Our future with COVID-19” on 5 February 2022.
4. Two faculty members of the Centre participated on 2022 WHO Innovation Forum in the Western PacificRegion from 28 April to 29 April 2022.
5. A faculty member of the Centre attended the 8th National Annual Conference in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia(held online), as an invited speaker hosted by the third national hospital on April 28, 2022.
3. Resources
Indicate staff time spent on the implementation of activities agreed with WHO (i.e. those mentioned inquestions no. 1 and no. 2 above). Do not include any data related to other activities done by yourinstitution without the agreement of WHO. Please indicate staff time using the number of “full-dayequivalents” – a day of work comprising 8 hours (e.g. 4 hours work per day for 7 days should berecorded as 3.5 full-day equivalents).
Number of staff involved (either partially or fully)
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Collaborating Centres
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Senior staff

Mid-career staff

Junior staff, PhD students

6120

Number of full-day equivalents, total for all staff involved
Senior staff

Mid-career staff

Junior staff, PhD students

4404500Implementation of the agreed workplan activities (i.e. those mentioned in questions no. 1 and no. 2above) normally require resources beyond staff-time, such as the use of laboratory facilities,
purchasing of materials, travel, etc. Please estimate the costs of these other resources as apercentage of the total costs incurred (e.g. if you incurred costs of USD 100 and the value of your staff
time was USD 50 which makes the total of USD 150, please report 33.3% and 66.7%).
Percentage of costs
associated with staff time

Percentage of costs associated with Totalother resources

15.00

85.00

100.004. Networking
Describe any interactions or collaboration with other WHO Collaborating Centres in the context of theimplementation of the agreed activities If you are part of a network of WHO Collaborating Centres,
please also mention the name of the network and describe your involvement in that network[maximum 200 words].
The Centre organized an online international symposium and invited a WHO/WPRO executive officer. He
made a presentation titled “Our future with COVID-19” on 5 February 2022. The Centre invited members of St
Luke’s International University (WHOCC/JPN-58), Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental
Sciences (WHOCC/JPN-75), Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and had a discussion on WHO strategy
and collaboration for COVID-19.
The Centre participated in the 4th WHO Collaborating Centre Collaborative Meeting organized by National
Center for Global Health and Medicine Bureau of International Health Cooperation (NCGM) (WHOCC/JPN-45)
on April 26, 2021. The meeting was attended by about 120 experts from 35 WHOCC, as well as Dr. Takashi
Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.

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