Development and piloting of a Community of Practice to support learning and improvement in health promotion practice within NSW local health districts
Objectives: Health Promotion Units within New South Wales (NSW) local health districts (LHDs) frequently collaborate and test innovations to address priority health issues or approaches to support the implementation of a health promotion program in a way that is consistent with the needs, resources...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sax Institute
2023-09-01
|
| Series: | Public Health Research & Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.17061/phrp3332326 |
| _version_ | 1797687717204590592 |
|---|---|
| author | Courtney Barnes Rachel Sutherland Gavin Jones Nina Kingon NCOIS Research Collaborative Luke Wolfenden |
| author_facet | Courtney Barnes Rachel Sutherland Gavin Jones Nina Kingon NCOIS Research Collaborative Luke Wolfenden |
| author_sort | Courtney Barnes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives: Health Promotion Units within New South Wales (NSW) local health districts (LHDs) frequently collaborate and test innovations to address priority health issues or approaches to support the implementation of a health promotion program in a way that is consistent with the needs, resources, and contexts of their regions. Compatible with learning health system approaches, mechanisms to facilitate the exchange of evidence and expertise across districts could improve the collective impact of health promotion services across the state. This study aimed to assess the use of a health promotion Community of Practice (CoP) model as a strategy to achieve this.
Type of program or service: This paper describes and shares experiences from the development and piloting process of a CoP model to develop, evaluate and exchange learnings to improve approaches to support the adoption of an effective healthy lunchbox program (‘SWAP IT’) across three LHDs.
Results: The functioning of the CoP was supported by key activities, funding and infrastructure over a 2-year period, including: planning workshops, implementation check-ins, and knowledge exchange meetings. A particularly novel aspect of the CoP was the harmonised evaluation of different, locally developed strategies to facilitate program adoption across the three LHDs. The alignment of the CoP with local and state priorities, as well as the operation of the CoP in a way that did not impose significant time demands, was seen as important for the sustainability of the CoP.
Lessons learnt: Findings from the piloting process suggest that a formalised CoP shows promise as an effective model to enhance health promotion collaboration, information sharing and practice across LHDs, which may be suitable for broader application across the state. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:22:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a0ad081aa47f41bb981bff218cfcc2be |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2204-2091 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:22:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Sax Institute |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Public Health Research & Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-a0ad081aa47f41bb981bff218cfcc2be2023-09-13T03:07:35ZengSax InstitutePublic Health Research & Practice2204-20912023-09-0133310.17061/phrp3332326Development and piloting of a Community of Practice to support learning and improvement in health promotion practice within NSW local health districtsCourtney Barnes0Rachel Sutherland1Gavin Jones2Nina Kingon3NCOIS Research Collaborative4Luke Wolfenden5 Hunter New England Population Health, Hunter New England Local Health District, Newcastle, NSW, Australia; School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia; Population Health Research Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia; National Centre of Implementation Science, University of Newcastle, NSW, AustraliaHunter New England Population Health, Hunter New England Local Health District, Newcastle, NSW, Australia; School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia; Population Health Research Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia; National Centre of Implementation Science, University of Newcastle, NSW, AustraliaMid North Coast Local Health District Health Promotion Service Coffs Harbour AustraliaHealth Promotion Service, Central Coast Local Health District, Gosford, NSW, AustraliaThe NCOIS (National Centre of Implementation Science) Research Collaborative (consortium authorship) includes: Lisa Janssen, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, and NCOIS Nicola Kerr, Mid North Coast Local Health District (MNCLHD) Nicole J Kajons, Central Coast Local Health District (CCLHD) Justine Gowland-Ella, CCLHD Katie Robinson, Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) Jannah Jones, HNELHD, School of Medicine and Health, University of Newcastle, Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI), NCOIS Karen Gilham, HNELHD Alison Brown, HNELHD, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, HMRI, NCOIS.Hunter New England Population Health, Hunter New England Local Health District, Newcastle, NSW, Australia; School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia; Population Health Research Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, NSW, Australia; National Centre of Implementation Science, University of Newcastle, NSW, AustraliObjectives: Health Promotion Units within New South Wales (NSW) local health districts (LHDs) frequently collaborate and test innovations to address priority health issues or approaches to support the implementation of a health promotion program in a way that is consistent with the needs, resources, and contexts of their regions. Compatible with learning health system approaches, mechanisms to facilitate the exchange of evidence and expertise across districts could improve the collective impact of health promotion services across the state. This study aimed to assess the use of a health promotion Community of Practice (CoP) model as a strategy to achieve this. Type of program or service: This paper describes and shares experiences from the development and piloting process of a CoP model to develop, evaluate and exchange learnings to improve approaches to support the adoption of an effective healthy lunchbox program (‘SWAP IT’) across three LHDs. Results: The functioning of the CoP was supported by key activities, funding and infrastructure over a 2-year period, including: planning workshops, implementation check-ins, and knowledge exchange meetings. A particularly novel aspect of the CoP was the harmonised evaluation of different, locally developed strategies to facilitate program adoption across the three LHDs. The alignment of the CoP with local and state priorities, as well as the operation of the CoP in a way that did not impose significant time demands, was seen as important for the sustainability of the CoP. Lessons learnt: Findings from the piloting process suggest that a formalised CoP shows promise as an effective model to enhance health promotion collaboration, information sharing and practice across LHDs, which may be suitable for broader application across the state.https://doi.org/10.17061/phrp3332326community of practice |
| spellingShingle | Courtney Barnes Rachel Sutherland Gavin Jones Nina Kingon NCOIS Research Collaborative Luke Wolfenden Development and piloting of a Community of Practice to support learning and improvement in health promotion practice within NSW local health districts Public Health Research & Practice community of practice |
| title | Development and piloting of a Community of Practice to support learning and improvement in health promotion practice within NSW local health districts |
| title_full | Development and piloting of a Community of Practice to support learning and improvement in health promotion practice within NSW local health districts |
| title_fullStr | Development and piloting of a Community of Practice to support learning and improvement in health promotion practice within NSW local health districts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development and piloting of a Community of Practice to support learning and improvement in health promotion practice within NSW local health districts |
| title_short | Development and piloting of a Community of Practice to support learning and improvement in health promotion practice within NSW local health districts |
| title_sort | development and piloting of a community of practice to support learning and improvement in health promotion practice within nsw local health districts |
| topic | community of practice |
| url | https://doi.org/10.17061/phrp3332326 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT courtneybarnes developmentandpilotingofacommunityofpracticetosupportlearningandimprovementinhealthpromotionpracticewithinnswlocalhealthdistricts AT rachelsutherland developmentandpilotingofacommunityofpracticetosupportlearningandimprovementinhealthpromotionpracticewithinnswlocalhealthdistricts AT gavinjones developmentandpilotingofacommunityofpracticetosupportlearningandimprovementinhealthpromotionpracticewithinnswlocalhealthdistricts AT ninakingon developmentandpilotingofacommunityofpracticetosupportlearningandimprovementinhealthpromotionpracticewithinnswlocalhealthdistricts AT ncoisresearchcollaborative developmentandpilotingofacommunityofpracticetosupportlearningandimprovementinhealthpromotionpracticewithinnswlocalhealthdistricts AT lukewolfenden developmentandpilotingofacommunityofpracticetosupportlearningandimprovementinhealthpromotionpracticewithinnswlocalhealthdistricts |