The Power of Many: How Communities of Practice Elevate Allied Health Professionals
As allied health professionals, we often find ourselves navigating complex tasks in even more complex settings, juggling clinical responsibilities, managing teams, and solving challenges that feel unique to our situation. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking we’re alone in these struggles, wrestling with imposter syndrome and wondering if others have it all figured out. But chances are, many of our peers and leaders are in a similar position, facing the same hurdles and asking the same questions.
This is where an allied health Community of Practice (CoP) can be a game-changer. By connecting with others who share our professional landscape, CoPs provide a platform to share experiences, exchange ideas, and collectively problem-solve. They offer a supportive space where we can step outside the silos of our daily work, realise that we’re not alone, and tap into a rich network of shared knowledge and resources.
Through social interaction and the sharing of insights, CoPs build a collective intelligence that goes beyond the expertise of any one individual. They allow us to leverage the wisdom and experience of the group, enhancing our professional practice and personal confidence. This week in Allied Health Insights, we explore the ways that we are using our communities of practice to transform the way allied health professionals connect, learn, and grow.
What is a Community of Practice?
A Community of Practice refers to a group of individuals who share a common interest and interact together to improve their skills and knowledge. Through discussion and learning with peers, within trusting and collaborative relationships, important problems can be addressed for each individual.
The term ‘community of practice’ wasn’t formalised until the 1990s and it describes a social phenomenon where groups of people with shared interests learn with and from each other to develop their own and collective abilities. The concept of community of practice is attributed to the work of Jean Lave and Etienne Wagner in their book Situated Learning: Peripheral Participation (Cambridge University Press). They argued that learning does not rest with the individual but is a social process that is situated in a cultural and historical context. Communities of practice can support any form of learning and take place in a range of different types of environments.
Distinguishing Features of a Community of Practice
A community of practice has three core ingredients: a domain or shared interest, a community of connected individuals, and a practice of communicating and learning together.
- Domain: Represents a shared purpose, built on common perspectives and capabilities, which distinguishes the group from friendships or networks. In professional development CoPs, participants come together from different professions and organisations, often with different job titles and experience, united by a focus on a specific aspect of their work.
- Community: Establishes joint activities for members to share ideas, help each other, and build relationships. These activities can take place in person or virtually, at the same time or asynchronously. Participants in professional development CoPs usually meet regularly to discuss, problem-solve, and learn more about key issues that impact their daily work.
- Practice: Requires more than just interest. It is focused on how the members share knowledge and support each other’s learning. Participants usually share and receive information across a range of activities, such as posing questions after listening to a webinar and sharing case scenarios for group discussion.
The Value of Our Allied Health Communities of Practice
The Allied Health Academy was established using the Mighty Networks platform which is an online learning platform based around communities. On TAHA, we host several communities of practice, each tailored to meet the needs of specific groups or needs within the allied health sector. Two of our most established CoPs are the Allied Health Advanced Practice and the Allied Health Assistant CPD groups.
Allied Health Advanced Practice CoP: This community is designed for AHPs looking to expand their scope of practice, take on leadership roles, or engage in advanced clinical activities. We host monthly webinars featuring experts from various fields who share their insights on topics such as advanced clinical skills, leadership, and interprofessional collaboration. Over the past year, we’ve built a rich library of content that members can access anytime, enabling continuous learning and professional development.
Allied Health Assistant CPD CoP: This community focuses on the continuing professional development of allied health assistants. With regular webinars, interactive sessions, weekly case studies and a moderated online discussion forum, we provide a supportive environment for assistants to enhance their skills, share best practices, and contribute to the wider allied health community. The collaborative nature of this CoP has empowered assistants from across different settings to network and support each other in their professional journeys.
Supporting Other Communities of Practice
Beyond these two groups, we also support CoPs for various organisations, including regionally based allied health associations and not-for-profit groups associated with allied health. These tailored communities enable organisations to address their unique challenges and create a cohesive support network for their members.
How Does a Community of Practice Support Professional Development?
A community of practice can be a practical way for healthcare professionals to share and learn from each other’s experiences, insights, and practice. They can support sharing and creating knowledge, problem-solving, promoting best practice, and facilitating innovation.
We use a range of techniques to support shared learning across our learning communities. For example in Allied Health Assistant CPD, we provide weekly case studies, with a range of prompts and questions to guide feedback and discussion, with engagement provided through an online forum. Allied Health Advanced Practice uses monthly webinars, debates, smaller discussion groups, and an online forum where members can share their own experiences, invite feedback, share resources or ask questions. We are also working with smaller groups through structured ‘learning sets’ and round-table discussions.
There are several publications on the different ways that CoPs support learning. This one by Pyrko et al is particularly valuable to help understand the way that ‘thinking together’ supports personal growth and knowledge generation.
One of the unique strengths of The Allied Health Academy’s Community of Practice is that it serves as a safe, neutral space for allied health professionals. Being outside the constraints of specific professions, institutions, and jurisdictions, it allows members to share and discuss issues that may be contentious or sensitive—topics that might be making headlines or pushing the boundaries of what is normally accepted in day-to-day allied health practice. This agnostic environment fosters open dialogue and critical thinking, providing a platform to explore innovative ideas and address challenges that might not be easily discussed within more traditional or hierarchical settings. It’s a place where allied health professionals can connect, support each other, and collaboratively navigate the complexities of their roles with honesty and integrity.
Another invaluable aspect of The Allied Health Academy’s Community of Practice is the opportunity it provides to connect with a global network of allied health professionals. This international reach allows members to gain broader perspectives and access resources and learnings from diverse contexts. For instance, discussions might explore how demographic changes, such as the low birth rate in Italy, are impacting the allied health workforce, or delve into the unique challenges faced in Sweden, where there is no central recognition of allied health professions. These global insights not only enrich our understanding of how allied health operates in different systems but also inspire innovative solutions that can be adapted and applied in our own settings.
Five Key Professional Development Activities
- Sharing and Creating Knowledge: Members create collective knowledge and collate practical resources, such as research papers, tools, and learning materials about a particular area. For example, Allied Health Assistants who are subscribed to the online CoP can participate in monthly webinars covering key areas of professional development, such as patient care, communication, healthcare technology, and regulatory compliance. They can also access a wide range of online case studies and communication toolkits to apply their learning directly to their workplace.
- Problem Solving: Members participate in virtual or real collaborative problem-solving and creative idea generation around common challenges. Using group feedback and insights, improvement strategies can be developed and refined. Through discussions and shared learning, Allied Health Assistants build a common sense of identity from which to identify and explore important issues, applying solutions to real work scenarios.
- Promoting Best Practice: Members support a culture of continuous learning and improvement and keep up to date with industry trends, emerging technologies, and new models of care. Networking and collaborating allow Allied Health Assistants to increase their visibility, advocacy, and influence across different practice areas, such as aged care, mental health, private practice, and paediatrics.
- Facilitating Innovation: Members foster an environment of creativity and innovation around important challenges by connecting diverse perspectives and expertise. They learn from global best practices, innovative strategies, and unique case studies to cultivate a spirit of entrepreneurship and are actively supported to develop and share innovative ideas.
- Promoting Individual Professional Growth: Within CoPs, individuals gain support from peers, mentors, and experts to enhance their professional identity, confidence, and reputation within their field. Allied Health Assistants reflect on their practice and apply their capabilities directly to address practical issues in their own workplace, increasing their visibility and influence.
Conclusion: A Journey of Shared Learning and Growth
As we continue to grow and evolve these communities, we recognise that we’re still learning about the true potential of CoPs. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first time that such a broad-based community network has been established to build a professional identity across so many different allied health professions, jurisdictions, and countries. It’s an ambitious endeavor, and we’re discovering new insights and approaches every day.
We are committed to fostering an environment where allied health professionals can come together, not only to share their knowledge but to shape the future of our professions collectively. Your feedback is invaluable in this process. What works well for you? What challenges do you face in your practice that a community of practice could help address? How can we make these communities even more relevant and impactful for you?
We invite you to join us on this journey of shared learning and growth. Together, we can continue to build a vibrant, supportive network that enhances the professional lives of allied health practitioners around the world. Your experiences, insights, and suggestions will help us refine and expand our approach, making these communities of practice more powerful and effective for everyone involved.
