Description

Program implementation in health services

JOHAN HANSSON

Medical Management Center, Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

ABSTRACT

Swedish health care organizations often face difficulties in providing for working environment requirements in planning of the activities. An action program aimed at developing routines for analysis and management of risks was designed and implemented as an in-service training program in three public organizations for the care of elderly. The aim was to evaluate a mixed method approach for program implementation by using a multiple-case study design. The main participants were first line managers. Results show that the managers succeeded in the assignment of implementing the given structure for risk analysis. Comparative results indicate consistent results signifying that the set of structured interventions reconciled the contextual variations embedded in each municipality. A mixed methods approach to implementation strategies for development work in public health care organizations is one way to help researchers and practitioners attain intended goals.

Keywords: in-service training program, mixed method approach, care of elderly, risk assessment, program implementation, process evaluation