Vol VII, Jul `05

Sustainability. Participants agreed that ‘sustainability’ for this project is primarily the continuation of (1) facility CPG implementation and (2) state partnerships. Participants debated how best to promote sustainability; continued implementation is difficult and most participants agreed it requires true organizational behavior change to achieve. In addition, local partnerships—with informal networks and part-time staff—may not have the capacity to support CPG implementation.

Dissemination. Participants discussed disseminating the CPGs, the CPG implementation process, partnerships, and the Partnership’s results. In addition to sustainability, dissemination may also require the use of existing partnerships. Participants debated whether a top-down or bottom-up approach would work best, finally settling on state health departments as agencies best positioned in the middle to facilitate dissemination.

Thank you to all the National Quality Coalition members who were able to join us for this lively discussion!

Recruitment Update

At the Partnership, our original plan for nursing home recruitment was based largely on the support of existing state organizations and local coalitions. As the project unfolded, however, we came to realize that local organizations and support depend largely on part-time staff and loosely organized affiliations.

We decided to revise our course of action and increase the state nurse coordinators’ role in recruitment. Our nurses—who were hired primarily to provide training and mentorship—began spending their limited time phoning and visiting potential participants.

Realizing that the nurses’ limited resources were a continued barrier to recruitment, we then decided to “centralize” recruitment by enlisting Erin Blume’s help. Erin, who assumed the role of Research Projects Coordinator at the AMDA Foundation in April, began centralized recruitment for the study in May and has quickly expanded the number of enrolled nursing homes.

By the end of June, the Partnership had 44 eligible facilities. (Our target is to enroll 60 facilities.)

Training Update

This summer will be busy for Partnership CPG implementation training:

Texas is scheduled to be the third state to roll out the project, with training in July and August, and Florida’s third round of training will be in August. (Cross your fingers for hurricane season.)

Look for updates from these states in upcoming State Spotlights.