Impact of a health services innovation university program in a major public hospital and health service: a mixed methods evaluation
Abstract Background While health services and their clinicians might seek to be innovative, finite budgets, increased demands on health services, and ineffective implementation strategies create challenges to sustaining innovation. These challenges can be addressed by building staff capacity to desi...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Implementation Science Communications |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-022-00293-3 |
| _version_ | 1811289669460033536 |
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| author | Elizabeth Martin Olivia Fisher Gregory Merlo Pauline Zardo Sally E. Barrimore Jeffrey Rowland Janet M. Davies |
| author_facet | Elizabeth Martin Olivia Fisher Gregory Merlo Pauline Zardo Sally E. Barrimore Jeffrey Rowland Janet M. Davies |
| author_sort | Elizabeth Martin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background While health services and their clinicians might seek to be innovative, finite budgets, increased demands on health services, and ineffective implementation strategies create challenges to sustaining innovation. These challenges can be addressed by building staff capacity to design cost-effective, evidence-based innovations, and selecting appropriate implementation strategies. A bespoke university award qualification and associated program of activities was developed to build the capacity of staff at Australia’s largest health service to implement and evaluate evidence-based practice (EBP): a Graduate Certificate in Health Science majoring in Health Services Innovation. The aim of this study was to establish the health service’s pre-program capacity to implement EBP and to identify preliminary changes in capacity that have occurred as a result of the Health Services Innovation program. Methods A mixed methods design underpinned by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research informed the research design, data collection, and analysis. Data about EBP implementation capacity aligned to the framework constructs were sought through qualitative interviews of university and health service executives, focus groups with students, and a quantitative survey of managers and students. The outcomes measured were knowledge of, attitudes towards, and use of EBP within the health service, as well as changes to practice which students identified had resulted from their participation in the program. Results The Health Services Innovation program has contributed to short-term changes in health service capacity to implement EBP. Participating students have not only increased their individual skills and knowledge, but also changed their EPB culture and practice which has ignited and sustained health service innovations and improvements in the first 18 months of the program. Capacity changes observed across wider sections of the organization include an increase in connections and networks, use of a shared language, and use of robust implementation science methods such as stakeholder analyses. Conclusion This is a unique study that assessed data from all stakeholders: university and health service executives, students, and their managers. By assembling multiple perspectives, we identified that developing the social capital of the organization through delivering a full suite of capacity-building initiatives was critical to the preliminary success of the program. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T03:59:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2d981fdd2613449487b664a1ab437c94 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2662-2211 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T03:59:41Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Implementation Science Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-2d981fdd2613449487b664a1ab437c942022-12-22T03:03:31ZengBMCImplementation Science Communications2662-22112022-04-01311910.1186/s43058-022-00293-3Impact of a health services innovation university program in a major public hospital and health service: a mixed methods evaluationElizabeth Martin0Olivia Fisher1Gregory Merlo2Pauline Zardo3Sally E. Barrimore4Jeffrey Rowland5Janet M. Davies6Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation (AusHSI), Centre for Healthcare Transformation, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation (AusHSI), Centre for Healthcare Transformation, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation (AusHSI), Centre for Healthcare Transformation, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation (AusHSI), Centre for Healthcare Transformation, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)Nutrition and Dietetics Department, The Prince Charles Hospital, Metro North HealthInternal Medicine, The Prince Charles Hospital, Metro North HealthMetro North Health, and Faculty of Health, Queensland University of TechnologyAbstract Background While health services and their clinicians might seek to be innovative, finite budgets, increased demands on health services, and ineffective implementation strategies create challenges to sustaining innovation. These challenges can be addressed by building staff capacity to design cost-effective, evidence-based innovations, and selecting appropriate implementation strategies. A bespoke university award qualification and associated program of activities was developed to build the capacity of staff at Australia’s largest health service to implement and evaluate evidence-based practice (EBP): a Graduate Certificate in Health Science majoring in Health Services Innovation. The aim of this study was to establish the health service’s pre-program capacity to implement EBP and to identify preliminary changes in capacity that have occurred as a result of the Health Services Innovation program. Methods A mixed methods design underpinned by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research informed the research design, data collection, and analysis. Data about EBP implementation capacity aligned to the framework constructs were sought through qualitative interviews of university and health service executives, focus groups with students, and a quantitative survey of managers and students. The outcomes measured were knowledge of, attitudes towards, and use of EBP within the health service, as well as changes to practice which students identified had resulted from their participation in the program. Results The Health Services Innovation program has contributed to short-term changes in health service capacity to implement EBP. Participating students have not only increased their individual skills and knowledge, but also changed their EPB culture and practice which has ignited and sustained health service innovations and improvements in the first 18 months of the program. Capacity changes observed across wider sections of the organization include an increase in connections and networks, use of a shared language, and use of robust implementation science methods such as stakeholder analyses. Conclusion This is a unique study that assessed data from all stakeholders: university and health service executives, students, and their managers. By assembling multiple perspectives, we identified that developing the social capital of the organization through delivering a full suite of capacity-building initiatives was critical to the preliminary success of the program.https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-022-00293-3EvaluationHealth service researchInnovationImplementation scienceEvidence-based practiceCapacity-building |
| spellingShingle | Elizabeth Martin Olivia Fisher Gregory Merlo Pauline Zardo Sally E. Barrimore Jeffrey Rowland Janet M. Davies Impact of a health services innovation university program in a major public hospital and health service: a mixed methods evaluation Implementation Science Communications Evaluation Health service research Innovation Implementation science Evidence-based practice Capacity-building |
| title | Impact of a health services innovation university program in a major public hospital and health service: a mixed methods evaluation |
| title_full | Impact of a health services innovation university program in a major public hospital and health service: a mixed methods evaluation |
| title_fullStr | Impact of a health services innovation university program in a major public hospital and health service: a mixed methods evaluation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of a health services innovation university program in a major public hospital and health service: a mixed methods evaluation |
| title_short | Impact of a health services innovation university program in a major public hospital and health service: a mixed methods evaluation |
| title_sort | impact of a health services innovation university program in a major public hospital and health service a mixed methods evaluation |
| topic | Evaluation Health service research Innovation Implementation science Evidence-based practice Capacity-building |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-022-00293-3 |
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