Implementation of pressure ulcer guidelines: what constitutes a successful strategy?

Strategies for the implementation of clinical practice guidelines in public health: an overview of systematic reviews

Background

As a source of readily available evidence, rigorously synthesized and interpreted by expert clinicians and methodologists, clinical guidelines are part of an evidence-based practice toolkit, which, transformed into practice recommendations, have the potential to improve both the process of care and patient outcomes. In Brazil, the process of development and updating of the clinical guidelines for the Brazilian Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS) is already well systematized by the Ministry of Health. However, the implementation process of those guidelines has not yet been discussed and well structured. Therefore, the first step of this project and the primary objective of this study was to summarize the evidence on the effectiveness of strategies used to promote clinical practice guideline implementation and dissemination.

Methods

This overview used systematic review methodology to locate and evaluate published systematic reviews regarding strategies for clinical practice guideline implementation and adhered to the PRISMA guidelines for systematic review (PRISMA).

Results

This overview identified 36 systematic reviews regarding 30 strategies targeting healthcare organizations, healthcare providers and patients to promote guideline implementation. The most reported interventions were educational materials, educational meetings, reminders, academic detailing and audit and feedback. Care pathways—single intervention, educational meeting—single intervention, organizational culture, and audit and feedback—both strategies implemented in combination with others—were strategies categorized as generally effective from the systematic reviews. In the meta-analyses, when used alone, organizational culture, educational intervention and reminders proved to be effective in promoting physicians' adherence to the guidelines. When used in conjunction with other strategies, organizational culture also proved to be effective. For patient-related outcomes, education intervention showed effective results for disease target results at a short and long term.

Conclusion

This overview provides a broad summary of the best evidence on guideline implementation. Even if the included literature highlights the various limitations related to the lack of standardization, the methodological quality of the studies, and especially the lack of conclusion about the superiority of one strategy over another, the summary of the results provided by this study provides information on strategies that have been most widely studied in the last few years and their effectiveness in the context in which they were applied. Therefore, this panorama can support strategy decision-making adequate for SUS and other health systems, seeking to positively impact on the appropriate use of guidelines, healthcare outcomes and the sustainability of the SUS.

Implementation of national childbirth guidelines in Brazil: barriers and strategies

The present report describes the process and results obtained with a knowledge translation project developed in three stages to identify barriers to the Implementation of the National Guidelines for Normal Childbirth in Brazil, as well strategies for effective implementation. The Improving Programme Implementation through Embedded Research (iPIER) model and the Supporting Policy Relevant Reviews and Trials (SUPPORT) tools provided the methodological framework for the project. In the first stage, the quality of the Guidelines was evaluated and the barriers preventing implementation of the recommendations were identified through review of the global evidence and analysis of contributions obtained in a public consultation process. In the second stage, an evidence synthesis was used as the basis for a deliberative dialogue aimed at prioritizing the barriers identified. Finally, a second evidence synthesis was presented in a new deliberative dialogue to discuss six options to address the prioritized barriers: 1) promote the use of multifaceted interventions; 2) promote educational interventions for the adoption of guidelines; 3) perform audits and provide feedback to adjust professional practice; 4) use reminders to mediate the interaction between workers and service users; 5) enable patient-mediated interventions; and 6) engage opinion leaders to promote use of the Guidelines. The processes and results associated with each stage were documented and formulated to inform a review and update of the Guidelines and the development of an implementation plan for the recommendations. Effective implementation of the Guidelines is important for improving the care provided during labor and childbirth in Brazil.

[Implementation of the National Childbirth Guidelines in Brazil: barriers and trategiesObstáculos y estrategias para la aplicación de las Directrices Nacionales para el Parto Normal en el Brasil]

The present report describes the process and results obtained with a knowledge translation project developed in three stages to identify barriers to the National Childbirth Guidelines in Brazil as well strategies for effective implementation. The Improving Programme Implementation through Embedded Research (iPIER) model and the Supporting Policy Relevant Reviews and Trials (SUPPORT) tools provided the methodological framework for the project. In the first stage, the quality of the Guidelines was evaluated and the barriers preventing implementation of the recommendations were identified through review of the global evidence and analysis of contributions obtained in a public consultation process. In the second stage, an evidence synthesis was used as basis for a deliberative dialogue aimed at prioritizing the barriers identified. Finally, a second evidence synthesis was presented in a new deliberative dialogue to discuss six options to address the prioritized barriers: 1) promote the use of multifaceted interventions; 2) promote educational interventions for the adoption of guidelines; 3) perform audits and provide feedback to adjust professional practice; 4) use reminders to mediate the interaction between workers and service users; 5) enable patient-mediated interventions; and 6) engage opinion leaders to promote the use of guidelines. The processes and results associated with each stage were documented and formulated to inform a review and update of the Guidelines and the development of an implementation plan for the recommendations. An effective implementation of the Guidelines is relevant to improve the care provided during labor and childbirth in Brazil.

Development and psychometric validation of a questionnaire to evaluate nurses' adherence to recommendations for preventing pressure ulcers (QARPPU)

AIM OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this work is the development and psychometric validation of an instrument to evaluate nurses' adherence to the main recommendations issued for preventing pressure ulcers.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

An instrument was designed based on the main recommendations for the prevention of pressure ulcers published in various clinical practice guides. Subsequently, it was proceeded to evaluate the face and content validity of the instrument by an expert group. It has been applied to 249 Spanish nurses took part in a cross-sectional study to obtain a psychometric evaluation (reliability and construct validity) of the instrument. The study data were compiled from June 2015 to July 2016.

RESULTS

From the results of the psychometric analysis, a final 18-item, 4-factor questionnaire was derived, which explained 60.5% of the variance and presented the following optimal indices of fit (CMIN/DF: 1.40 p < 0.001; GFI: 0.93; NFI: 0.92; CFI: 0.98; TLI: 0.97; RMSEA: 0.04 (90% CI 0.025-0.054).

CONCLUSIONS

The results obtained show that the instrument presents suitable psychometric properties for evaluating nurses' adherence to recommendations for the prevention of pressure ulcers.

Achieving change in primary care--effectiveness of strategies for improving implementation of complex interventions: systematic review of reviews

OBJECTIVE

To identify, summarise and synthesise available literature on the effectiveness of implementation strategies for optimising implementation of complex interventions in primary care.

DESIGN

Systematic review of reviews.

DATA SOURCES

MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and PsychINFO were searched, from first publication until December 2013; the bibliographies of relevant articles were screened for additional reports.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES

Eligible reviews had to (1) examine effectiveness of single or multifaceted implementation strategies, (2) measure health professional practice or process outcomes and (3) include studies from predominantly primary care in developed countries. Two reviewers independently screened titles/abstracts and full-text articles of potentially eligible reviews for inclusion.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Extracted data were synthesised using a narrative approach.

RESULTS

91 reviews were included. The most commonly evaluated strategies were those targeted at the level of individual professionals, rather than those targeting organisations or context. These strategies (eg, audit and feedback, educational meetings, educational outreach, reminders) on their own demonstrated a small to modest improvement (2-9%) in professional practice or behaviour with considerable variability in the observed effects. The effects of multifaceted strategies targeted at professionals were mixed and not necessarily more effective than single strategies alone. There was relatively little review evidence on implementation strategies at the levels of organisation and wider context. Evidence on cost-effectiveness was limited and data on costs of different strategies were scarce and/or of low quality.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a substantial literature on implementation strategies aimed at changing professional practices or behaviour. It remains unclear which implementation strategies are more likely to be effective than others and under what conditions. Future research should focus on identifying and assessing the effectiveness of strategies targeted at the wider context and organisational levels and examining the costs and cost-effectiveness of implementation strategies.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42014009410.

Reasons behind non-adherence of healthcare practitioners to pediatric asthma guidelines in an emergency department in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of childhood bronchial asthma in Saudi Arabia has increased in less than a decade from 8% to 23%. Innovations in the management of asthma led to the development of evidence based clinical practice guidelines and protocols to improve the patients' outcomes. The objectives of this study are to examine the compliance of the healthcare providers in the Pediatrics Emergency Department, in King Khalid University Hospital, with the recommendations of the Pediatrics Asthma Management Protocol (PAMP), and to explore the reasons behind non-adherence.

METHODS

This study is designed in 2 parts, a patients' chart review and a focus group interview. The medical records of all the children who presented to the Pediatric Emergency Department (PED) and were diagnosed as asthmatic, during the period from the 1st of January 2009 to the 31st of March 2009, were reviewed to investigate the compliance of healthcare providers (physicians and nurses) with 8 recommendations of the PAMP which are considered to be frequently encountered evidence-practice gaps, and these are 1) documentation of asthma severity grading by the treating physician and nurse 2) limiting the prescription of Ipratropium for children with severe asthma 3) administration of Salbutamol through an inhaler and a spacer 4) documentation of parental education 5) prescription of systemic corticosteroids to all cases of acute asthma 6) limiting chest x-ray requisition for children with suspected chest infection 7) management of all cases of asthma as outpatients, unless diagnosed as severe or life threatening asthma 8) limiting prescription of antibiotics to children with chest infection. The second part of this study is a focus group interview designed to elicit the reasons behind non-adherence to the recommendations detected by the chart review. Two separate focus group interviews were conducted for 10 physicians and 10 nurses. The focus group interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Theory-based content analysis was used to analyze interviews into themes and sub-themes.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A total of 657 charts were reviewed. The percentage of adherence by the healthcare providers to the 8 previously mentioned recommendations was established. There was non-adherence to the first 5 of the 8 aforementioned recommendations. Analysis of the focus group interview revealed 3 main themes as reasons behind non-compliance to the 5 recommendations mentioned above and those are 1) factors related to the organization, 2) factors related to the asthma management protocol 3) factors related to healthcare providers.

CONCLUSION

The organizational barriers and the lack of an implementation strategy for the protocol, in addition to the attitude and beliefs of the healthcare providers, are the main factors behind non-compliance to the PAMP recommendations.

Preventing pressure ulcers in hospitals: A systematic review of nurse-focused quality improvement interventions

BACKGROUND

A systematic review of the literature on nurse-focused interventions conducted in the hospital setting informs the evidence base for implementation of pressure ulcer (PU) prevention programs. Despite the availability of published guidelines, there is little evidence about which interventions can be successfully integrated into routine care through quality improvement (QI). The two previous literature syntheses on PU prevention have included articles from multiple settings but have not focused specifically on QI.

METHODS

A search of six electronic databases for publications from January 1990 to September 2009 was conducted. Trial registries and bibliographies of retrieved studies and reviews, and Internet sites of funding agencies were also searched. Using standardized forms, two independent reviewers screened publications for eligibility into the sample; data were abstracted and study quality was assessed for those that passed screening.

FINDINGS

Thirty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Most of them used a before-and-after study design in a single site. Intervention strategies included PU-specific changes in combination with educational and/or QI strategies. Most studies reported patient outcome measures, while fewer reported nursing process of care measures. For nearly all the studies, the authors concluded that the intervention had a positive effect. The pooled risk difference for developing PUs was -.07 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.0976, -0.0418) comparing the pre- and postintervention status.

CONCLUSION

Future research can build the evidence base for implementation through an increased emphasis on understanding the mechanisms by which improved outcomes are achieved and describing the conditions under which specific intervention strategies are likely to succeed or fail.

Does the clinical practice guideline on Parkinson's disease change health outcomes? A cluster randomized controlled trial

The successful transfer of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) into patient care depends on the appropriateness of the implementation method. This study strived for a better understanding of which intervention strategy is effective in implementing the CPG on Parkinson's disease (CPG-PD). In a cluster randomized controlled trial, we compared the impact of two different implementation strategies of the CPG-PD on health outcomes of PD patients. The primary outcome of health-related quality of life was measured by PDQ-39. The neurologists of the intervention group (IG) versus a control group (CG) received the CPG-PD with special instructions, a 4-h training and were offered personal feedback. Patients were followed over three assessment times: baseline, post-test (6 months) and follow-up (9 months). Lack of time and remuneration resulted in low study participation (32 out of 619 contacted neurologists). Multilevel modelling revealed that primary (PDQ-39) and secondary efficacy variables (EQ-5D, CGI, HADS-D, ZUF-8) of 386 patients were not affected significantly by the intervention and failed to show any significant difference between the two groups. The EQ-5D VAS scale (p = 0.0288) and the CGI-P severity scale (p = 0.0072) showed a significant worsening over time. A significant decrease of hours of dyskinesias in the IG (p = 0.007) was observed, whereas Parkinson symptoms did not change significantly between the groups. Lacking awareness of the CPG-PD seems to be no longer a barrier for its use, but it is still a major challenge to find effective implementation methods to optimise clinical outcome. Further studies are needed for a more comprehensive understanding of successful implementation strategies.

ASERNIP-S: international trend setting

The Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures--Surgical (ASERNIP-S) came into being 10 years ago to provide health technology assessments specifically tailored towards new surgical techniques and technologies. It was and remains the only organisation in the world to focus on this area of research. Most funding has been provided by the Australian Government Department of Health, and assessments have helped inform the introduction of new surgical techniques into Australia. ASERNIP-S is a project of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. The ASERNIP-S program employs a diverse range of methods including systematic reviews, technology overviews, assessments of new and emerging surgical technologies identified by horizon scanning, and audit. Support and guidance for the program is provided by Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. ASERNIP-S works closely with consumers to produce health technology assessments and audits, as well as consumer information to keep patients fully informed of research. Since its inception, the ASERNIP-S program has developed a strong international profile through the production of over 60 reports on evidence-based surgery, surgical technologies and audit. The work undertaken by ASERNIP-S has evolved from assessments of the safety and efficacy of procedures to include guidance on policies and surgical training programs. ASERNIP-S needs to secure funding so that it can continue to play an integral role in the improvement of quality of care both in Australia and internationally.

Factors influencing the implementation of clinical guidelines for health care professionals: a systematic meta-review

BACKGROUND

Nowadays more and more clinical guidelines for health care professionals are being developed. However, this does not automatically mean that these guidelines are actually implemented. The aim of this meta-review is twofold: firstly, to gain a better understanding of which factors affect the implementation of guidelines, and secondly, to provide insight into the "state-of-the-art" regarding research within this field.

METHODS

A search of five literature databases and one website was performed to find relevant existing systematic reviews or meta-reviews. Subsequently, a two-step inclusion process was conducted: (1) screening on the basis of references and abstracts and (2) screening based on full-text papers. After that, relevant data from the included reviews were extracted and the methodological quality of the reviews was assessed by using the Quality Assessment Checklist for Reviews.

RESULTS

Twelve systematic reviews met our inclusion criteria. No previous systematic meta-reviews meeting all our inclusion criteria were found. Two of the twelve reviews scored high on the checklist used, indicating only "minimal" or "minor flaws". The other ten reviews scored in the lowest of middle ranges, indicating "extensive" or "major" flaws. A substantial proportion (although not all) of the reviews indicates that effective strategies often have multiple components and that the use of one single strategy, such as reminders only or an educational intervention, is less effective. Besides, characteristics of the guidelines themselves affect actual use. For instance, guidelines that are easy to understand, can easily be tried out, and do not require specific resources, have a greater chance of implementation. In addition, characteristics of professionals - e.g., awareness of the existence of the guideline and familiarity with its content - likewise affect implementation. Furthermore, patient characteristics appear to exert influence: for instance, co-morbidity reduces the chance that guidelines are followed. Finally, environmental characteristics may influence guideline implementation. For example, a lack of support from peers or superiors, as well as insufficient staff and time, appear to be the main impediments.

CONCLUSION

Existing reviews describe various factors that influence whether guidelines are actually used. However, the evidence base is still thin, and future sound research - for instance comparing combinations of implementation strategies versus single strategies - is needed.

Pressure ulcers: the great insult

Pressure ulcers are a common and frustrating problem. Pressure ulcers increase demands on health care resources and are sometimes a source of malpractice litigation. Skin breakdown, often an iatrogenic complication of hospitalization, increases the length of stay and contributes to mortality and morbidity. Long-term care facilities are under increasing regulatory pressure to reduce rates of pressure ulcer occurrence. The process-outcome link continues to escape us. Processes of care seem disjointed. Numerous studies show a failure to implement what we know. When pressure ulcer risk is identified, preventive measures often are not implemented. The literature is replete with reports of quality improvement activities that enumerate multiple opportunities to improve care related to pressure ulcers. Various quality improvement strategies for pressure ulcer prevention and management have been produced, but recommendations are not always applied to practice. When studies compared various outcomes before and after implementation of guidelines, most of the evidence was clinical audit data. Overall, active strategies were associated with better outcomes and passive strategies with poorer ones. Baier et al reported improvement in processes of care after using a structured quality improvement approach in the long-term care setting. Targeted education sessions were common to all studies reporting successful outcomes. Multidisciplinary wound care teams that conduct rounds at the bedside are highly recommended to enhance patient outcomes.Functioning interdisciplinary teams clearly represent an important approach to error reduction. To close the gap between risk identification and pressure ulcer prevention, we should develop active multidisciplinary wound care teams and "Strive for Six Sigma in Pressure Ulcer Care".