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1 Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney;... I Implementation Science 2023, i B 18(2): b SP a sp Mitchell Sarkies and Hossai Gul contributed equally to this paper SP b sp Andrew Baillie, Lauren Christie, Caleb Ferguson, Julie Gawthorne, Helen Goldsmith, Nicolette Hodyl, Natasha Howard, Karen Hutchinson, Marlena Klaic, Joanna Moullin, Nicole Nathan, Sanne Peters, Nicole Rankin, Ben Smith, Serene Yoong. Only one study reported facilitators to the IMPLEMENTATION of CDS systems, none reported on barriers to the implementation of CDS systems and none reported any information on successful strategies to MAINTAIN implementation of CDS systems. B Methods b A sequence of three studies were conducted via a mixed method methodology and structured by the process model Implementation Mapping (IM) to guide the development of implementation strategies. B Conclusions b Process mapping successfully identifies site-specific variation in complex clinical processes and facilitates a shared understanding of the current systems and factors that affect implementation. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Optimal strategies to facilitate implementation of evidence-based clinical pathways are unclear. We evaluated two implementation strategies (Core versus Enhanced) to facilitate implementation of a clinical pathway for the management of anxiety and depression in cancer patients (the ADAPT CP). Methods: Twelve cancer services in NSW Australia were cluster randomised, stratified by service size, to the Core versus Enhanced implementation strategy. Each strategy was in place for 12 months, facilitating uptake of the ADAPT CP (the intervention being implemented). The Core strategy included a lead team with champions, staff training and awareness campaigns prior to implementation, plus access to feedback reports and telephone or online support during implementation. The Enhanced strategy included all Core supports plus monthly lead team meetings, and proactive, ongoing advice on managing barriers, staff training and awareness campaigns throughout implementation. All patients at participating sites were offered the ADAPT CP as part of routine care, and if agreeable, completed screening measures. They were allocated a severity step for anxiety/depression from one (minimal) to five (severe) and recommended management appropriate to their severity step. Multi-level mixed-effect regression analyses examined the effect of Core versus Enhanced implementation strategy on adherence to the ADAPT CP (binary primary outcome: adherent ≥ 70% of key ADAPT CP components achieved versus non-adherent < 70%), with continuous adherence as a secondary outcome. Interaction between study arm and anxiety/depression severity step was also explored. Results: Of 1280 registered patients, 696 (54%) completed at least one screening. As patients were encouraged to re-screen, there were in total 1323 screening events (883 in Core and 440 in Enhanced services). The main effect of implementation strategy on adherence was non-significant in both binary and continuous analyses. Anxiety/depression step was significant, with adherence being higher for step 1 than for other steps (p = 0.001, OR = 0.05, 95% CI 0.02–0.10). The interaction between study arm and anxiety/depression step was significant (p = 0.02) in the continuous adherence analysis only: adherence was significantly higher (by 7.6% points (95% CI 0.08–15.1%) for step 3 in the Enhanced arm (p =.048) and trending to significance for step 4. Discussion: These results support ongoing implementation effort for the first year of implementation to ensure successful uptake of new clinical pathways in over-burdened clinical services. Trial registration: ANZCTR Registration: ACTRN12617000411347 (Trial registered 22/03/2017; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=372486&isReview=true) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A dramatic decline in mental health of people worldwide in the early COVID-19 pandemic years has not recovered. In rural and remote Australia, access to appropriate and timely mental health services has been identified as a major barrier to people seeking help for mental ill-health. From 2020 to 2021 a care navigation model, Navicare, was co-designed with rural and remote communities in the Greater Whitsunday Region of Central Queensland in Australia. The Exploration, Preparation, Implementation and Sustainment (EPIS) framework was used to design and guide multiple aspects of a multisite study, The Bridging Study, to evaluate the implementation of Navicare in Australia. Methods: A community-engaged hybrid effectiveness-implementation study design will focus on the tailored implementation of Navicare at three new sites as well as monitoring implementation at an existing site established since 2021. Study outcomes assessed will include sustained access as the co-primary outcome (measured using access to Navicare mental health referral services) and Proctor's Implementation Outcomes of feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, adoption, fidelity, implementation cost, and sustainability. Data collection for the implementation evaluation will include service usage data, community consultations, interviews, and workshops; analysed using mixed methods and guided by EPIS and other implementation frameworks. Pre-post effectiveness and cost-consequence study components are embedded in the implementation and sustainment phases, with comparison to pre-implementation data and value assessed for each EPIS phase using hospital, service, and resource allocation data. A scaling up strategy will be co-developed using a national roundtable forum in the final year of the study. Qualitative exploration of other aspects of the study (e.g., mechanisms of action and stakeholder engagement) will be conducted. Discussion: Our study will use tailoring to local sites and a community-engaged approach to drive implementation of a mental health care navigation service in rural and remote Australia, with expected benefits to mental healthcare access. This approach is consistent with policy recommendations nationally and internationally as building blocks for rural health including the World Health Organization Framework for Action on Strengthening Health Systems to Improve Health Outcomes. Trial registration: Prospectively registered on April 2, 2024, on the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, no. ACTRN12624000382572. https://anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=386665&isReview=true. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Implementing evidence that changes practice in emergency departments (EDs) is notoriously difficult due to well-established barriers including high levels of uncertainty arising from undifferentiated nature of ED patients, resource shortages, workload unpredictability, high staff turnover, and a constantly changing environment. We developed and implemented a behaviour-change informed strategy to mitigate these barriers for a clinical trial to implement the evidence-based emergency nursing framework HIRAID® (History including Infection risk, Red flags, Assessment, Interventions, Diagnostics, communication, and reassessment) to reduce clinical variation, and increase safety and quality of emergency nursing care. Aim: To evaluate the behaviour-change-informed HIRAID® implementation strategy on reach, effectiveness, adoption, quality (dose, fidelity) and maintenance (sustainability). Methods: An effectiveness-implementation hybrid design including a step–wedge cluster randomised control trial (SW-cRCT) was used to implement HIRAID® with 1300 + emergency nurses across 29 Australian rural, regional, and metropolitan EDs. Evaluation of our behaviour-change informed strategy was informed by the RE-AIM Scoring Instrument and measured using data from (i) a post HIRAID® implementation emergency nurse survey, (ii) HIRAID® Instructor surveys, and (iii) twelve-week and 6-month documentation audits. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics to determine the level of each component of RE-AIM achieved. Qualitative data were analysed using content analysis and used to understand the 'how' and 'why' of quantitative results. Results: HIRAID® was implemented in all 29 EDs, with 145 nurses undertaking instructor training and 1123 (82%) completing all four components of provider training at 12 weeks post-implementation. Modifications to the behaviour-change informed strategy were minimal. The strategy was largely used as intended with 100% dose and very high fidelity. We achieved extremely high individual sustainability (95% use of HIRAID® documentation templates) at 6 months and 100% setting sustainability at 3 years. Conclusion: The behaviour-change informed strategy for the emergency nursing framework HIRAID® in rural, regional, and metropolitan Australia was highly successful with extremely high reach and adoption, dose, fidelity, individual and setting sustainability across substantially variable clinical contexts. Trial registration: ANZCTR, ACTRN12621001456842. Registered 25 October 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Communicate Study is a partnership project which aims to transform the culture of healthcare systems to achieve excellence in culturally safe care for First Nations people. It responds to the ongoing impact of colonisation which results in First Nations peoples experiencing adverse outcomes of hospitalisation in Australia's Northern Territory. In this setting, the majority of healthcare users are First Nations peoples, but the majority of healthcare providers are not. Our hypotheses are that strategies to ensure cultural safety can be effectively taught, systems can become culturally safe and that the provision of culturally safe healthcare in first languages will improve experiences and outcomes of hospitalisation. Methods: We will implement a multicomponent intervention at three hospitals over 4 years. The main intervention components are as follows: cultural safety training called 'Ask the Specialist Plus' which incorporates a locally developed, purpose-built podcast, developing a community of practice in cultural safety and improving access to and uptake of Aboriginal language interpreters. Intervention components are informed by the 'behaviour change wheel' and address a supply–demand model for interpreters. The philosophical underpinnings are critical race theory, Freirean pedagogy and cultural safety. There are co-primary qualitative and quantitative outcome measures: cultural safety, as experienced by First Nations peoples at participating hospitals, and proportion of admitted First Nations patients who self-discharge. Qualitative measures of patient and provider experience, and patient-provider interactions, will be examined through interviews and observational data. Quantitative outcomes (documentation of language, uptake of interpreters (booked and completed), proportion of admissions ending in self-discharge, unplanned readmission, hospital length of stay, costs and cost benefits of interpreter use) will be measured using time-series analysis. Continuous quality improvement will use data in a participatory way to motivate change. Programme evaluation will assess Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance ('RE-AIM'). Discussion: The intervention components are innovative, sustainable and have been successfully piloted. Refinement and scale-up through this project have the potential to transform First Nations patients' experiences of care and health outcomes. Trial registration: Registered with ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Record 2008644 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Smoking during pregnancy is the most important preventable cause of adverse pregnancy outcomes, yet smoking cessation support (SCS) is inconsistently provided. The MOMHQUIT intervention was developed to address this evidence-practice gap, using the Behaviour Change Wheel method by mapping barriers to intervention strategies. MOHMQuit includes systems, leadership and clinician elements. This implementation trial will determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of MOHMQuit in improving smoking cessation rates in pregnant women in public maternity care services in Australia; test the mechanisms of action of the intervention strategies; and examine implementation outcomes. Methods: A stepped-wedge cluster-randomised design will be used. Implementation of MOHMQuit will include reinforcing leadership investment in SCS as a clinical priority, strengthening maternity care clinicians' knowledge, skills, confidence and attitudes towards the provision of SCS, and clinicians' documentation of guideline-recommended SCS provided during antenatal care. Approximately, 4000 women who report smoking during pregnancy will be recruited across nine sites. The intervention and its implementation will be evaluated using a mixed methods approach. The primary outcome will be 7-day point prevalence abstinence at the end of pregnancy, among pregnant smokers, verified by salivary cotinine testing. Continuous data collection from electronic medical records and telephone interviews with postpartum women will occur throughout 32 months of the trial to assess changes in cessation rates reported by women, and SCS documented by clinicians and reported by women. Data collection to assess changes in clinicians' knowledge, skills, confidence and attitudes will occur prior to and immediately after the intervention at each site, and again 6 months later. Questionnaires at 3 months following the intervention, and semi-structured interviews at 6 months with maternity service leaders will explore leaders' perceptions of acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, feasibility, adaptations and fidelity of delivery of the MOHMQuit intervention. Structural equation modelling will examine causal linkages between the strategies, mediators and outcomes. Cost-effectiveness analyses will also be undertaken. Discussion: This study will provide evidence of the effectiveness of a multi-level implementation intervention to support policy decisions; and evidence regarding mechanisms of action of the intervention strategies (how the strategies effected outcomes) to support further theoretical developments in implementation science. Trial registration: ACTRN12622000167763, registered February 2nd 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention guidelines based on absolute risk assessment is poor around the world, including Australia. Behavioural barriers amongst GPs and patients include capability (e.g. difficulty communicating/understanding risk) and motivation (e.g. attitudes towards guidelines/medication). This paper outlines the theory-based development of a website for GP guidelines, and piloting of a new risk calculator/decision aid.Methods: Stage 1 involved identifying evidence-based solutions using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) framework, informed by previous research involving 400 GPs and 600 patients/consumers. Stage 2 co-developed website content with GPs. Stage 3 piloted a prototype website at a national GP conference. Stage 4 iteratively improved the website based on "think aloud" interviews with GPs and patients. Stage 5 was a feasibility study to evaluate potential efficacy (guidelines-based recommendations for each risk category), acceptability (intended use) and demand (actual use over 1 month) amongst GPs (n = 98).Results: Stage 1 identified GPs as the target for behaviour change; the need for a new risk calculator/decision aid linked to existing audit and feedback training; and online guidelines as a delivery format. Stage 2-4 iteratively improved content and format based on qualitative feedback from GP and patient user testing over three rounds of website development. Stage 5 suggested potential efficacy with improved identification of hypothetical high risk patients (from 26 to 76%) and recommended medication (from 57 to 86%) after viewing the website (n = 42), but prescribing to low risk patients remained similar (from 19 to 22%; n = 37). Most GPs (89%) indicated they would use the website in the next month, and 72% reported using it again after one month (n = 98). Open feedback identified implementation barriers including a need for integration with medical software, low health literacy resources and pre-consultation assessment.Conclusions: Following a theory-based development process and user co-design, the resulting intervention was acceptable to GPs with high intentions for use, improved identification of patient risk categories and more guidelines-based prescribing intentions for high risk but not low risk patients. The effectiveness of linking the intervention to clinical practice more closely to address implementation barriers will be evaluated in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Much has been written about the use of evidence in policy; however, there is still little known about whether and how research is engaged with and used in policy development or the impact of reported barriers and facilitators. This paper aims to (1) describe the characteristics of 131 policy documents, (2) describe the ways in which research was engaged with (e.g. was searched for, appraised or generated) and used (e.g. to clarify understanding, persuade others or inform a policy) in the development of these policy documents, and (3) identify the most commonly reported barriers and facilitators and describe their association with research engagement and use.Methods: Six health policy and program development agencies based in Sydney, Australia, contributed four recently finalised policy documents for consideration over six measurement periods. Structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with the policymakers most heavily involved in developing each of the 131 policy documents. Interviews covered whether and how research was engaged with and used in the development of the policy product and any barriers or facilitators related to this. Interviews were scored using the empirically validated SAGE tool and thematically analysed. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all key variables and comparisons made between agencies. Multiple regression analyses were used to estimate the impact of specific barriers and facilitators on research engagement and use.Results: Our data shows large variations between policy agencies in the types of policy documents produced and the characteristics of these documents. Nevertheless, research engagement and use was generally moderate across agencies. A number of barriers and facilitators to research use were identified. No barriers were significantly associated with any aspects of research engagement or use. Access to consultants and relationships with researchers were both associated with increased research engagement but not use. Thus, access to consultants and relationships with researchers may increase the extent and quality of the evidence considered in policy development.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that those wishing to develop interventions and programs designed to improve the use of evidence in policy agencies might usefully target increasing access to consultants and relationships with researchers in order to increase the extent and quality of the research considered, but that a greater consideration of context might be required to develop strategies to increase evidence use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Major trauma patients-such as patients who have experienced road injury, high-impact falls or violence-require complex, intense and rapid resuscitation from a multidisciplinary team of clinicians. These 'flash teams' must form quickly and function effectively, often having never met before. There is evidence that multidisciplinary teamwork training improves the performance of the trauma team in simulation. However, the translation of learnt resuscitation teamwork skills from simulation into clinical practice has had modest and variable effects. This paper outlines a method for developing an intervention designed to translate the teaching from a simulated training environment into clinical practice using the theoretical domains framework, behaviour change wheel and behaviour change techniques as the theoretical and empirical basis for the process.Methods: The data used to inform the intervention development process were collected during an implementation evaluation study of the trauma team training programme at the busiest level 1 trauma centre in Sydney, Australia. A detailed barrier and enabler assessment were conducted using qualitative and quantitative data. The theoretical domains framework was used to integrate the results. Implementation interventions were selected using the behaviour change wheel.Results: Twenty-three facilitators and 19 barriers were identified to influence the implementation of trauma team training in the clinical setting. The facilitators and barriers corresponded to all 14 domains of the theoretical domains framework. Seven intervention functions and four policy categories of the behavioural change wheel were selected to address the target behaviours, and a multimodal relaunch of the revised trauma team training programme was developed.Conclusions: This study offers a framework for deductively employing the theoretical domains framework, behaviour change wheel and behaviour change techniques to assess and develop intervention strategies to improve the functioning of trauma resuscitation teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Population-level health promotion is often conceived as a tension between "top-down" and "bottom-up" strategy and action. We report behind-the-scenes insights from Australia's largest ever investment in the "top-down" approach, the $45m state-wide scale-up of two childhood obesity programmes. We used Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) as a template to interpret the organisational embedding of the purpose-built software designed to facilitate the initiative. The use of the technology was mandatory for evaluation, i.e. for reporting the proportion of schools and childcare centres which complied with recommended health practices (the implementation targets). Additionally, the software was recommended as a device to guide the implementation process. We set out to study its use in practice.Methods: Short-term, high-intensity ethnography with all 14 programme delivery teams across New South Wales was conducted, cross-sectionally, 4 years after scale-up began. The four key mechanisms of NPT (coherence/sensemaking, cognitive participation/engagement, collective action and reflexive monitoring) were used to describe the ways the technology had normalised (embedded).Results: Some teams and practitioners embraced how the software offered a way of working systematically with sites to encourage uptake of recommended practices, while others rejected it as a form of "mechanisation". Conscious choices had to be made at an individual and team level about the practice style offered by the technology-thus prompting personal sensemaking, re-organisation of work, awareness of choices by others and reflexivity about professional values. Local organisational arrangements allowed technology users to enter data and assist the work of non-users-collective action that legitimised opposite behaviours. Thus, the technology and the programme delivery style it represented were normalised by pathways of adoption and non-adoption. Normalised use and non-use were accepted and different choices made by local programme managers were respected. State-wide, implementation targets are being reported as met.Conclusion: We observed a form of self-organisation where individual practitioners and teams are finding their own place in a new system, consistent with complexity-based understandings of fostering scale-up in health care. Self-organisation could be facilitated with further cross-team interaction to continuously renew and revise sensemaking processes and support diverse adoption choices across different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Clinical Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Work-related Mental Health Conditions in General Practice (the Guideline) was published in 2019. The objective of this trial is to implement the Guideline in general practice.Trial Design: Implementing work-related Mental health conditions in general PRacticE is a hybrid III, parallel cluster randomised controlled trial undertaken in Australia. Its primary aim is to assess the effectiveness of a complex intervention on the implementation of the Guideline in general practice. Secondary aims are to assess patient health and work outcomes, to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the trial, and to develop a plan for sustainability.Methods: A total of 86 GP clusters will be randomly allocated either to the intervention arm, where they will receive a complex intervention comprising academic detailing, enrolment in a community of practice and resources, or to the control arm, where they will not receive the intervention. GP guideline concordance will be assessed at baseline and 9 months using virtual simulated patient scenarios. Patients who meet the eligibility criteria (>18years, employed, and receiving care from a participating GP for a suspected or confirmed work-related mental health condition) will be invited to complete surveys about their health and work participation and provide access to their health service use data. Data on health service use and work participation compensation claim data will be combined with measures of guideline concordance and patient outcomes to inform an economic evaluation. A realist evaluation will be conducted to inform the development of a plan for sustainability.Results: We anticipate that GPs who receive the intervention will have higher guideline concordance than GPs in the control group. We also anticipate that higher concordance will translate to better health and return-to-work outcomes for patients, as well as cost-savings to society.Conclusions: The trial builds on a body of work defining the role of GPs in compensable injury, exploring their concerns, and developing evidence-based guidelines to address them. Implementation of these guidelines has the potential to deliver improvements in GP care, patient health, and return-to-work outcomes.Trial Registration: ACTRN12620001163998 , November 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Implementation research has delved into barriers to implementing change and interventions for the implementation of innovation in practice. There remains a gap, however, that fails to connect implementation barriers to the most effective implementation strategies and provide a more tailored approach during implementation. This study aimed to explore barriers for the implementation of professional services in community pharmacies and to predict the effectiveness of facilitation strategies to overcome implementation barriers using machine learning techniques.Methods: Six change facilitators facilitated a 2-year change programme aimed at implementing professional services across community pharmacies in Australia. A mixed methods approach was used where barriers were identified by change facilitators during the implementation study. Change facilitators trialled and recorded tailored facilitation strategies delivered to overcome identified barriers. Barriers were coded according to implementation factors derived from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the Theoretical Domains Framework. Tailored facilitation strategies were coded into 16 facilitation categories. To predict the effectiveness of these strategies, data mining with random forest was used to provide the highest level of accuracy. A predictive resolution percentage was established for each implementation strategy in relation to the barriers that were resolved by that particular strategy.Results: During the 2-year programme, 1131 barriers and facilitation strategies were recorded by change facilitators. The most frequently identified barriers were a 'lack of ability to plan for change', 'lack of internal supporters for the change', 'lack of knowledge and experience', 'lack of monitoring and feedback', 'lack of individual alignment with the change', 'undefined change objectives', 'lack of objective feedback' and 'lack of time'. The random forest algorithm used was able to provide 96.9% prediction accuracy. The strategy category with the highest predicted resolution rate across the most number of implementation barriers was 'to empower stakeholders to develop objectives and solve problems'.Conclusions: Results from this study have provided a better understanding of implementation barriers in community pharmacy and how data-driven approaches can be used to predict the effectiveness of facilitation strategies to overcome implementation barriers. Tailored facilitation strategies such as these can increase the rate of real-time implementation of innovations in healthcare, leading to an industry that can confidently and efficiently adapt to continuous change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Indigenous smoking rates are up to 80% among pregnant women: prevalence among pregnant Australian Indigenous women was 45% in 2014, contributing significantly to the health gap for Indigenous Australians. We aimed to develop an implementation intervention to improve smoking cessation care (SCC) for pregnant Indigenous smokers, an outcome to be achieved by training health providers at Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) in a culturally competent approach, developed collaboratively with AMS.Method: The Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), incorporating the COM-B model (capability, opportunity and motivation for behavioural interventions), provided a framework for the development of the Indigenous Counselling and Nicotine (ICAN) QUIT in Pregnancy implementation intervention at provider and patient levels. We identified evidence-practice gaps through (i) systematic literature reviews, (ii) a national survey of clinicians and (iii) a qualitative study of smoking and quitting with Aboriginal mothers. We followed the three stages recommended in Michie et al.'s "Behaviour Change Wheel" guide.Results: Targets identified for health provider behaviour change included the following: capability (psychological capability, knowledge and skills) by training clinicians in pharmacotherapy to assist women to quit; motivation (optimism) by presenting evidence of effectiveness, and positive testimonials from patients and clinicians; and opportunity (environmental context and resources) by promoting a whole-of-service approach and structuring consultations using a flipchart and prompts. Education and training were selected as the main intervention functions. For health providers, the delivery mode was webinar, to accommodate time and location constraints, bringing the training to the services; for patients, face-to-face consultations were supported by a booklet embedded with videos to improve patients' capability, opportunity and motivation.Conclusions: The ICAN QUIT in Pregnancy was an intervention to train health providers at Aboriginal Medical Services in how to implement culturally competent evidence-based practice including counselling and nicotine replacement therapy for pregnant patients who smoke. The BCW aided in scientifically and systematically informing this targeted implementation intervention based on the identified gaps in SCC by health providers. Multiple factors impact at systemic, provider, community and individual levels. This process was therefore important for defining the design and intervention components, prior to a conducting a pilot feasibility trial, then leading on to a full clinical trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Growing imperatives for safety, quality and responsible resource allocation have prompted renewed efforts to identify and quantify harmful or wasteful (low-value) medical practices such as test ordering, procedures and prescribing. Quantifying these practices at a population level using routinely collected health data allows us to understand the scale of low-value medical practices, measure practice change following specific interventions and prioritise policy decisions. To date, almost all research examining health care through the low-value lens has focused on medical services (tests and procedures) rather than on prescribing. The protocol described herein outlines a program of research funded by Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council to select and quantify low-value prescribing practices within Australian routinely collected health data.Methods: We start by describing our process for identifying and cataloguing international low-value prescribing practices. We then outline our approach to translate these prescribing practices into indicators that can be applied to Australian routinely collected health data. Next, we detail methods of using Australian health data to quantify these prescribing practices (e.g. prevalence of low-value prescribing and related costs) and their downstream health consequences. We have approval from the necessary Australian state and commonwealth human research ethics and data access committees to undertake this work.Discussion: The lack of systematic and transparent approaches to quantification of low-value practices in routinely collected data has been noted in recent reviews. Here, we present a methodology applied in the Australian context with the aim of demonstrating principles that can be applied across jurisdictions in order to harmonise international efforts to measure low-value prescribing. The outcomes of this research will be submitted to international peer-reviewed journals. Results will also be presented at national and international pharmacoepidemiology and health policy forums such that other jurisdictions have guidance to adapt this methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As pressure ulcers contribute to significant patient burden and increased health care costs, their prevention is a clinical priority. Our team developed and tested a complex intervention, a pressure ulcer prevention care bundle promoting patient participation in care, in a cluster-randomised trial. The UK Medical Research Council recommends process evaluation of complex interventions to provide insight into why they work or fail and how they might be improved. This study aimed to evaluate processes underpinning implementation of the intervention and explore end-users' perceptions of it, in order to give a deeper understanding of its effects.Methods: A pre-specified, mixed-methods process evaluation was conducted as an adjunct to the main trial, guided by a framework for process evaluation of cluster-randomised trials. Data was collected across eight Australian hospitals but mainly focused on the four intervention hospitals. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected across the evaluation domains: recruitment, reach, intervention delivery and response to intervention, at both cluster and individual patient level. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis.Results: In the context of the main trial, which found a 42% reduction in risk of pressure ulcer with the intervention that was not significant after adjusting for clustering and covariates, this process evaluation provides important insights. Recruitment and reach among clusters and individuals was high, indicating that patients, nurses and hospitals are willing to engage with a pressure ulcer prevention care bundle. Of 799 intervention patients in the trial, 96.7% received the intervention, which took under 10 min to deliver. Patients and nurses accepted the care bundle, recognising benefits to it and describing how it enabled participation in pressure ulcer prevention (PUP) care.Conclusions: This process evaluation found no major failures relating to implementation of the intervention. The care bundle was found to be easy to understand and deliver, and it reached a large proportion of the target population and was found to be acceptable to patients and nurses; therefore, it may be an effective way of engaging patients in their pressure ulcer prevention care and promoting evidence-based practise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Victoria, Australia, Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services deliver primary health care to families with children 0-6 years, focusing on health promotion, parenting support and early intervention. Family violence (FV) has been identified as a major public health concern, with increased prevalence in the child-bearing years. Victorian Government policy recommends routine FV screening of all women attending MCH services. Using Normalization Process Theory (NPT), we aimed to understand the barriers and facilitators of implementing an enhanced screening model into MCH nurse clinical practice. Methods: NPT informed the process evaluation of a pragmatic, cluster randomised controlled trial in eight MCH nurse teams in metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Using mixed methods (surveys and interviews), we explored the views of MCH nurses, MCH nurse team leaders, FV liaison workers and FV managers on implementation of the model. Quantitative data were analysed by comparing proportionate group differences and change within trial arm over time between interim and impact nurse surveys. Qualitative data were inductively coded, thematically analysed and mapped to NPT constructs (coherence, cognitive participation, collective action and reflexive monitoring) to enhance our understanding of the outcome evaluation. Results: MCH nurse participation rates for interim and impact surveys were 79% (127/160) and 71% (114/160), respectively. Twenty-three key stakeholder interviews were completed. FV screening work was meaningful and valued by participants; however, the implementation coincided with a significant (government directed) change in clinical practice which impacted on full engagement with the model (coherence and cognitive participation). The use of MCH nurse-designed FV screening/management tools in focussed women's health consultations and links with FV services enhanced the participants' work (collective action). Monitoring of FV work (reflexive monitoring) was limited. Conclusions: The use of theory-based process evaluation helped identify both what inhibited and enhanced intervention effectiveness. Successful implementation of an enhanced FV screening model for MCH nurses occurred in the context of focussed women's health consultations, with the use of a maternal health and wellbeing checklist and greater collaboration with FV services. Improving links with these services and the ongoing appraisal of nurse work would overcome the barriers identified in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The last year of life is one of the most resource-intensive periods for people with cancer. Very little population-based research has been conducted on end-of-life cancer care in the Australian health care setting. The objective of this program is to undertake a series of observational studies examining resource use, costs and quality of end-of-life care in a cohort of elderly cancer decedents using linked, routinely collected data. Methods/Design: This study forms part of an ongoing cancer health services research program. The cohorts for the end-of-life research program comprise Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs decedents with full health care entitlements, residing in NSW for the last 18 months of life and dying between 2005 and 2009. We used cancer and death registry data to identify our decedent cohorts and their causes of death. The study population includes 9,862 decedents with a cancer history and 15,483 decedents without a cancer history. The median age at death is 86 and 87 years in the cancer and non-cancer cohorts, respectively. We will examine resource use and associated costs in the last 6 months of life using linked claims data to report on health service use, hospitalizations, emergency department visits and medicines use. We will use best practice methods to examine the nature and extent of resource use, costs and quality of care based on previously published indicators. We will also examine factors associated with these outcomes. Discussion: This will be the first Australian research program and among the first internationally to combine routinely collected data from primary care and hospital-based care to examine comprehensively end-of-life care in the elderly. The research program has high translational value, as there is limited evidence about the nature and quality of care in the Australian end-of-life setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cerebral palsy is a permanent disorder of posture and movement caused by disturbances in the developing brain. It affects approximately 1 in every 500 children in developed countries and is the most common form of childhood physical disability. People with cerebral palsy may also have problems with speech, vision and hearing, intellectual difficulties and epilepsy. Health and therapy services are frequently required throughout life, and this care should be effective and evidence informed; however, accessing and adopting new research findings into day-to-day clinical practice is often delayed. Methods/Design: This 3-year study employs a before and after design to evaluate if a multi-strategy intervention can improve research implementation among allied health professionals (AHPs) who work with children and young people with cerebral palsy and to establish if children's health outcomes can be improved by routine clinical assessment. The intervention comprises (1) knowledge brokering with AHPs, (2) access to an online research evidence library, (3) provision of negotiated evidence-based training and education, and (4) routine use of evidence-based measures with children and young people aged 3-18 years with cerebral palsy. The study is being implemented in four organisations, with a fifth organisation acting as a comparison site, across four Australian states. Effectiveness will be assessed using questionnaires completed by AHPs at baseline, 6, 12 and 24 months, and by monitoring the extent of use of evidence-based measures. Children's health outcomes will be evaluated by longitudinal analyses. Discussion: Government, policy makers and service providers all seek evidence-based information to support decision-making about how to distribute scarce resources, and families are seeking information to support intervention choices. This study will provide knowledge about what constitutes an efficient, evidence-informed service and which allied health interventions are implemented for children with cerebral palsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Despite the widespread availability of evidence-based clinical guidelines and validated risk predication equations for prevention and management of CVD, their translation into routine practice is limited. We developed a multifaceted quality improvement intervention for CVD risk management which incorporates electronic decision support, patient risk communication tools, computerised audit and feedback tools, and monthly, peer-ranked performance feedback via a web portal. The intervention was implemented in a cluster randomised controlled trial in 60 primary healthcare services in Australia. Overall, there were improvements in risk factor recording and in prescribing of recommended treatments among under-treated individuals, but it is unclear how this intervention was used in practice and what factors promoted or hindered its use. This information is necessary to optimise intervention impact and maximally implement it in a post-trial context. In this study protocol, we outline our methods to conduct a theory-based, process evaluation of the intervention. Our aims are to understand how, why, and for whom the intervention produced the observed outcomes and to develop effective strategies for translation and dissemination. Methods/design We will conduct four discrete but inter-related studies taking a mixed methods approach. Our quantitative studies will examine (1) the longer term effectiveness of the intervention posttrial, (2) patient and health service level correlates with trial outcomes, and (3) the health economic impact of implementing the intervention at scale. The qualitative studies will (1) identify healthcare provider perspectives on implementation barriers and enablers and (2) use video ethnography and patient semi-structured interviews to understand how cardiovascular risk is communicated in the doctor/patient interaction both with and without the use of intervention. We will also assess the costs of implementing the intervention in Australian primary healthcare settings which will inform scale-up considerations. Discussion This mixed methods evaluation will provide a detailed understanding of the process of implementing a quality improvement intervention and identify the factors that might influence scalability and sustainability. Trials registration 12611000478910. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The implementation of healthy school canteen policies has been recommended as a strategy to help prevent unhealthy eating and excessive weight gain. Internationally, research suggests that schools often fail to implement practices consistent with healthy school canteen policies. Without a population wide implementation, the potential benefits of these policies will not be realised. The aim of this trial is to assess the effectiveness of an implementation intervention in increasing school canteen practices consistent with a healthy canteen policy of the New South Wales (NSW), Australia, government known as the 'Fresh Tastes @ School NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy'. Methods/design The parallel randomised trial will be conducted in 70 primary schools located in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Schools will be eligible to participate if they are not currently meeting key components of the healthy canteen policy. Schools will be randomly allocated after baseline data collection in a 1:1 ratio to either an intervention or control group using a computerised random number function in Microsoft Excel. Thirty-five schools will be selected to receive a multi-component intervention including implementation support from research staff, staff training, resources, recognition and incentives, consensus and leadership strategies, follow-up support and implementation feedback. The 35 schools allocated to the control group will not receive any intervention support as part of the research trial. The primary outcome measures will be i) the proportion of schools with a canteen menu that does not contain foods or beverages restricted from regular sale ('red' and 'banned' items) and ii) the proportion of schools where healthy canteen items ('green' items) represent the majority (>50%) of products listed on the menu. Outcome data will be collected via a comprehensive menu audit, conducted by dietitians blind to group allocation. Intervention effectiveness will be assessed using logistic regression models adjusting for baseline values. Discussion The proposed trial will represent a novel contribution to the literature, being the first randomised trial internationally to examine the effectiveness of an intervention to facilitate implementation of a healthy canteen policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To increase the likelihood of successful implementation of evidence-based practices, researchers, knowledge users, and healthcare professionals must consider aspects of context that promote and hinder implementation in their setting. The purpose of the current study was to identify contextual attributes and their features relevant to implementation by healthcare professionals and compare and contrast these attributes and features across different clinical settings and healthcare professional roles.Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of 145 semi-structured interviews comprising 11 studies (10 from Canada and one from Australia) investigating healthcare professionals' perceived barriers and enablers to their use of research evidence in clinical practice. The data was collected using semi-structured interview guides informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework across different healthcare professional roles, settings, and practices. We analyzed these data inductively, using constant comparative analysis, to identify attributes of context and their features reported in the interviews. We compared these data by (1) setting (primary care, hospital-medical/surgical, hospital-emergency room, hospital-critical care) and (2) professional role (physicians and residents, nurses and organ donor coordinators).Results: We identified 62 unique features of context, which we categorized under 14 broader attributes of context. The 14 attributes were resource access, work structure, patient characteristics, professional role, culture, facility characteristics, system features, healthcare professional characteristics, financial, collaboration, leadership, evaluation, regulatory or legislative standards, and societal influences. We found instances of the majority (n = 12, 86%) of attributes of context across multiple (n = 6 or more) clinical behaviors. We also found little variation in the 14 attributes of context by setting (primary care and hospitals) and professional role (physicians and residents, and nurses and organ donor coordinators).Conclusions: There was considerable consistency in the 14 attributes identified irrespective of the clinical behavior, setting, or professional role, supporting broad utility of the attributes of context identified in this study. There was more variation in the finer-grained features of these attributes with the most substantial variation being by setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Organizational context is one factor influencing the translation of evidence into practice, but data pertaining to patients with acute stroke are limited. We aimed to determine the associations of organizational context in relation to four important evidence-based stroke care processes.Methods: This was a mixed methods cross-sectional study. Among 19 hospitals in Queensland, Australia, a survey was conducted of the perceptions of stroke clinicians about their work using the Alberta Context Tool (ACT), a validated measure covering 10 concepts of organizational context, and with additional stroke-specific contextual questions. These data were linked to the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCR) to determine the relationship with receipt of evidence-based acute stroke care (acute stroke unit admission, use of thrombolysis for those with acute ischemic stroke, receipt of a written care plan on discharge, and prescription of antihypertensive medications on discharge) using quantile regression. Exploratory cluster analysis was used to categorize hospitals into high and low context groups based on all of the 10 ACT concepts. Differences in adherence to care processes between the two groups were examined.Results: A total of 215 clinicians completed the survey (50% nurses, 37% allied health staff, 10% medical practitioners), with 81% being in their current role for at least 1 year. There was good reliability (∞ 0.83) within the cohort to allow pooling of professional groups. Greater ACT scores, especially for social capital (μ 9.00, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.86 to 13.14) and culture (μ 7.33, 95% CI 2.05 to 12.62), were associated with more patients receiving stroke unit care. There was no correlation between ACT concepts and other care processes. Working within higher compared to lower context environments was associated with greater proportions of patients receiving stroke unit care (88.5% vs. 69.0%) and being prescribed antihypertensive medication at discharge (62.5% vs. 52.0%). Staff from higher context hospitals were more likely to value medical and/or nursing leadership and stroke care protocols.Conclusions: Overall organizational context, and in particular aspects of culture and social capital, are associated with the delivery of some components of evidence-based stroke care, offering insights into potential pathways for improving the implementation of proven therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity poses an urgent global challenge. The World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity recommends the provision of appropriate family-based, lifestyle weight management services through universal health care to support families of children with overweight or obesity; however, there are few examples of their implementation 'at scale'. The purpose of this research was to compare and contrast the impact of system and organisational factors on the implementation of childhood obesity management services within two Australian States (New South Wales and Queensland) to comprehensively describe their influence on the achievement of the WHO recommendation.Methods: Purposeful stratified sampling was used to select health service study sites (n = 16) representative of program implementation (none, discontinued, repeated) and geographic location within each State. Within each health service site, staff involved in program delivery, co-ordination and management roles participated (n = 39). An additional 11 staff involved in implementation at State level also participated. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used to develop interview scripts. Telephone interviews were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were thematically coded and scored according to CFIR constructs and rating rules to identify enablers and barriers to implementation according to sample characteristics.Results: New South Wales achieved ongoing implementation; Queensland did not. Enablers included a quality evidence-based program, State government recognition of the urgency of the health issue and a commitment to address it, formally appointed and funded internal implementation leaders, strong communication and reporting at all levels. Barriers included the complexity of the health issue, in particular a lack of clear roles and responsibilities for local health service delivery, inadequate ongoing funding and challenges in meeting the diverse needs of families.Conclusions: This research is an important progression of the evidence base in relation to the translation of childhood obesity management trials into routine health service delivery. Understanding enablers and barriers to program implementation 'at scale' is imperative to inform future planning and investment by Australia and WHO member states to meet their commitment to deliver childhood weight management services as part of universal health coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]