Improving quality in healthcare: A case study in dental primary care in Scotland
Summary
One means of improving the quality of healthcare is through the development of evidence based guidance and translating these recommendations into routine clinical practice. However a consistent finding in health services research is that the translation of these findings can be slow and haphazard.
Current evidence suggests that while change is possible research must adopt a comprehensive approach at multiple levels – the individual, the team and the organisation. Many studies have explored individual level behaviours that may influence the translation of guidance in practice but few have investigated the organisational level factors. This PhD aimed to explore what organisational characteristics of primary care organisations facilitated the translation of guidance into practice.
This PhD study comprised a three phase mixed method design:
- a literature review exploring organisational change in primary healthcare organisations, focused on knowledge translation;
- development and validation of a self-report questionnaire-based instrument measuring structure, culture and management in dental practices;
- dental practice case studies, collecting data on the structure, culture and management of dental practices along with self-report compliance data exploring the relationship between organisational characteristics and guidance compliance.
Current status
Completed
PhD student
Heather Cassie
Supervisors
Professor Jan Clarkson, University of Dundee, NHS Education for Scotland; Professors Shaun Treweek, Lorna McKee and Craig Ramsay, University of Aberdeen
Advisor
Dr Linda Young, SDPBRN, NHS Education for Scotland
Funding
Chief Scientist Office/NHS Education for Scotland