IPEC Domain/Competency 

Values and Ethics | Roles and Responsibilities | Communication | Teams and Teamwork

Sub-Competencies

VE1. Promote the values and interests of persons and populations served in health care, community-based-settings, and/or interdisciplinary endeavors.

RR3. Incorporate complementary expertise of all team members.

RR4. Differentiate each team member's role, scope of expertise, and responsibility in advancing individual, community, and/or project outcomes.

C5. Practice active listening that encourages ideas and opinions of other team members.

TT3: Practice team reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making.

TT8: Facilitate team coordination to achieve safe and effective care/services, and project outcomes.

Goals and objectives

• Apply the IPEC Core Competencies to a patient case.
• Describe the unique contributions of multiple health professions.
• Analyze how interprofessional communication supports patient-centered care.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the team's collaborative approach.
• Recommend strategies that strengthen interprofessional practice.

Materials

• Stroke Case Study

Activity Description

In this activity, learners will analyze an interprofessional team caring for Kanika, a 38-year-old stroke survivor whose goal is to return to living independently after experiencing aphasia and other functional challenges following a stroke. The case highlights the importance of collaboration among healthcare professionals, the patient, and family members in developing a coordinated care plan

After the read the case study, students will engage in the following activities.

Part I – Individual Reflection

After reading the case, ask participants to reflect individually on the following questions:

1. What are Kanika's most important goals?
2. What challenges could prevent her from returning to independent living?
3. Which professional perspectives are most needed to support her success?

Part II – Small Group Discussion

Divide learners into groups of 4-6 participants. The discussion may be facilitated in several ways:

• Each group addresses all topics.
• Groups rotate through topic stations.
• A jigsaw method is used, with each group focusing on one topic before sharing key insights with the full class.

Topic: Values & Ethics (VE):

• How does the team demonstrate patient-centered care?
• How are Kanika's goals incorporated into the plan?
• How does the team balance independence with safety?
• How is Kanika's sister involved in decision making?
• What evidence suggests respect for the patient's preferences and values?
• If team members disagreed about the level of independence Kanika should have, how should the team address those differences?

Topic: Roles & Responsibilities (RR):

• What unique contribution does each team member bring to Kanika's care? For each member of the care team, complete team member potential contributions:
• Physician Assistant
• Occupational Therapy
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Audiology
• Psychology
• Social Work
• Family member (sister)
• Kanika (patient)
• Which team member's contribution might be overlooked? Why?

Topic: Interprofessional Communication (C):

• What communication is necessary to coordinate Kanika's care effectively? Consider the following channels of communication:
• Communication among team members
• Communication with Kanika
• Communication with her sister
• Communication across care settings

Topic: Teams & Teamwork (TT):

• What characteristics of effective teamwork are demonstrated in this case (e.g., shared goals, shared decision making, respect for expertise, collaboration, inclusion of patient and family)?
• What team processes helped support Kanika's progress?

Topic: Integrating Perspectives:

• If one profession's perspective dominated all decision making, what might be lost?
• Choose one profession and discuss:
• What would their priorities likely be?
• What patient needs might be missed?
• How does collaboration lead to better outcomes?

Part III – Interprofessional Care Planning Challenge

As a group, develop three recommendations the team should prioritize.  Your recommendations must:

• Include input from at least four professions.
• Include Kanika's goals.
• Consider the sister's concerns.
• Demonstrate all four IPEC competencies.

Groups share out their recommendations.

Debrief

• What was the most important factor in helping Kanika achieve her goal of returning to independent living?
• Which team member's contribution had the greatest impact on the care plan, and why?
• How did including Kanika and her sister influence the team's decisions and recommendations?
• What communication strategies were essential for coordinating care across the team?
• How did collaboration among professions lead to a stronger care plan than any one profession could have developed independently?
• What is one lesson from this case that you would apply to your future work on an interprofessional team?

Closing Reflection

• Ask participants to complete the sentence: “One thing I learned about another profession's role in stroke recovery is…”

Use

Use with small group of 4-6 learners to engage in a discussion. Duration of the activity is about 30-40 minutes. This activity requires understanding and application of all four IPEC competencies in interprofessional collaboration.

Variation for IPE or IDE experiences

For IDE learning, use a case that is focusing on a community problem-solving.

Reference

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2026, July). Case Study: Team Helps Young Survivor Return to Living Alone. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Link

Created by: CHBS IPE and IDE Council, James Madison University
Suggested Citation: CHBS IPE and IDE Council. (2026). Stroke Case Study. CHBS IPE & IDE Instructional Toolkit. James Madison University.