Dataset Information

Adoption and Initial Implementation of a National Integrated Care Programme for Diabetes: A Realist Evaluation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The implementation of models of integrated care for chronic conditions is not well understood. We conducted a realist evaluation to determine how and why the implementation of the National Diabetes Programme in Ireland worked (or not).

Methods

Documentary analysis and qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of national stakeholders (n = 19), were used to develop an initial theory on expected programme delivery. We refined this theory using semi-structured interviews (n = 38) with professionals from different clinical disciplines involved in programme implementation.

Results

Locally important contexts facilitating implementation included staff experience of delivering diabetes care, capacity, and familiarity with the intended purpose of new clinical posts. The extent to which integrated care was adopted and implemented depended on judgements made by professionals working in these contexts; specifically, judging the relative advantage of the programme and whether to engage in negotiations to legitimize their new roles in diabetes care.

Conclusions

Our results highlight the need for adequate preparatory work to raise awareness of and support new roles to implement integrated care, clarification on the core components of new care models, and the development of local service infrastructures to support integrated care.

SUBMITTER: O'Neill K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9284993 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundOver the last three decades in response to the growing burden of diabetes, countries worldwide have developed national and regional multifaceted programmes to improve the monitoring and management of diabetes and to enhance the coordination of care within and across settings. In Ireland in 2010, against a backdrop of limited dedicated strategic planning and engrained variation in the type and level of diabetes care, a national programme was established to standardise and improve care for people with diabetes in Ireland, known as the National Diabetes Programme (NDP). The NDP comprises a range of organisational and service delivery changes to support evidence-based practices and policies. This realist evaluation protocol sets out the approach that will be used to identify and explain which aspects of the programme are working, for whom and in what circumstances to produce the outcomes intended.Methods/designThis mixed method realist evaluation will develop theories about the relationship between the context, mechanisms and outcomes of the diabetes programme. In stage 1, to identify the official programme theories, documentary analysis and qualitative interviews were conducted with national stakeholders involved in the design, development and management of the programme. In stage 2, as part of a multiple case study design with one case per administrative region in the health system, qualitative interviews are being conducted with frontline staff and service users to explore their responses to, and reasoning about, the programme's resources (mechanisms). Finally, administrative data will be used to examine intermediate implementation outcomes such as service uptake, acceptability, and fidelity to models of care.DiscussionThis evaluation is using the principles of realist evaluation to examine the implementation of a national programme to standardise and improve services for people with diabetes in Ireland. The concurrence of implementation and evaluation has enabled us to produce formative feedback for the NDP while also supporting the refinement and revision of initial theories about how the programme is being implemented in the dynamic and unstable context of the Irish healthcare system.

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Project description:BackgroundAs realist methodology is still evolving, there is a paucity of guidance on how to conduct theory driven interviews. Realist researchers can therefore struggle to collect interview data that can make a meaningful contribution to refining their initial programme theory. Collecting data to inform realist Inital Programme Theories (IPTs) in healthcare contexts is further compounded due to the healthcare workers' busy work schedules. In this case study of team interventions in acute hospital contexts, we explore the benefits of using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) in order to build and refine an initial programme theory. We contend that use of the CIT helps to draw on more specific experiences of "Key Informants" and therefore elicits richer and more relevant data for realist enquiry.MethodsThe five steps of the CIT were mapped against realist methods guidance and adapted into an interview framework. Specifications to identify an incident as "critical" were agreed. Probes were embedded in the interview framework to confirm, refine and/or refute previous theories. Seventeen participants were interviewed and recordings were transcribed and imported for analysis into NVivo software. Using RAMESES guidelines, Context-Mechanism-Outcomes configurations were extrapolated from a total of 31 incidents.ResultsWe found that the CIT facilitated construction of an interview format that allowed participants to reflect on specific experiences of interest. We demonstrate how the CIT strengthened initial programme theory development as it facilitated the reporting of the specifics of team interventions and the contexts and mechanisms characteristic of those experiences. As new data emerged, it was possible to evolve previous theories synthesised from the literature as well as to explore new theories.ConclusionsUtilising a CIT framework paid dividends in terms of the relevance and usefulness of the data for refining the initial programme theory. Adapting the CIT questioning technique helped to focus the participants on the specifics relating to an incident allowing the interviewers to concentrate on probes to explore theories during the interview process. The CIT interview format therefore achieved its purpose and can be adapted for use within realist methodology.