On Friday, March 20, 2026, a key milestone took place for the Health and Medical Technologies Department at HELHa: the 6th edition of the Interdisciplinary Day.
This flagship event brought together more than 450 students in Charleroi from Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Psychomotricity (HELHa and HEPN), Nursing, Social Work (HELHa), as well as medical students from UCLouvain (CAMG).
The objective: to foster exchange and collaboration between future professionals around a real clinical case.
From hospital to home: managing transitions
This year’s theme focused on the transition from hospital to home.
More specifically, students worked on the case of a patient to ensure a smooth and effective return to their home environment. Reaching agreement between four or five different professions proved to be quite a challenge.
“Improving communication between professionals in order to build a shared care plan for a patient is essential to ensuring quality care,” explains Félix, an Occupational Therapy student in Montignies-sur-Sambre.
A day structured around teamwork
Students were divided into groups and took part in a day structured in four key phases based on the clinical case:
- Phase 1: Identifying their professional role (role description) and managing conflicts
- Phase 2: Collaborative clinical reasoning
- Phase 3: Modelling the patient care pathway from institution to home
- Phase 4: Collaborative clinical reasoning in a home setting
Around thirty professionals from diverse backgrounds were present to support and stimulate group reflection. Prior discussions helped raise essential questions, particularly regarding the patient’s role, their experience of vulnerability, and their involvement in coordinating their own care.
After in-depth reflection, students identified several key areas for action:
- Promoting autonomy
- Adapting the home environment
- Regular evaluation of rehabilitation progress
- Building strong support networks
Encounters with professionals and organisations
During the lunch break, several organisations and institutions were present to meet students. This provided an opportunity to introduce their missions, raise awareness, and answer questions from future professionals.
Participating organisations included:
- La LUSS
- CeREF Santé
- AXXON (Belgian Physiotherapy Association)
- UPBPF (Belgian Professional Union of Psychomotricians)
- Respect Seniors
- UPE (Professional Union of Occupational Therapists)
- Medispring
- ACN (Belgian Association of Nursing Practitioners)
- ALS League
- Huntington League
- Parkinson Association
A widely appreciated initiative
Once again, the event was highly valued by both lecturers and students, who highlighted the importance of interprofessional collaboration in improving the quality of patient care.
Such initiatives remain essential to help students from different disciplines better understand their roles and responsibilities within the healthcare system.
Published on 25 March 2026
HELHa Sciences and Life Technologies