Facilitation activities for change response: a qualitative study on infection prevention and control professionals during a pandemic in Brazil

Abstract

PurposeFacilitation activities support implementation of evidence-based interventions within healthcare organizations. Few studies have attempted to understand how facilitation activities are performed to promote the uptake of evidence-based interventions in hospitals from resource-poor countries during crises such as pandemics. This paper aims to explore facilitation activities by infection prevention and control (IPC) professionals in 16 hospitals from 9 states in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachPrimary and secondary data were collected between March and December 2020. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 IPC professionals in Brazilian hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Public and internal documents were used for data triangulation. The data were analyzed through thematic analysis technique.FindingsBuilding on the change response theory, this study explores the facilitation activities from the cognitive, behavioral and affective aspects. The facilitation activities are grouped in three overarching dimensions: (1) creating and sustaining legitimacy to continuous and rapid changes, (2) fostering capabilities for continuous changes and (3) accelerating individual commitment.Practical implicationsDuring crises such as pandemics, facilitation activities by IPC professionals need to embrace all the cognitive, behavioral and affective aspects to stimulate positive attitudes of frontline workers toward continuous and urgent changes.Originality/valueThis study provides unique and timely empirical evidence on the facilitation activities that support the implementation of evidence-based interventions by IPC professionals during crises in hospitals in a resource-poor country.

AID4HAI: Automatic Idea Detection for Healthcare-Associated Infections from Twitter, a Framework Based on Active Learning and Transfer Learning

“…Multimodal interventions have been advocated, implemented, and studied to control and prevent HAIs, and cross-transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms worldwide [14]. Despite numerous efforts, the compliance of interventions among healthcare professionals remains below the WHO recommendations, hampering patient safety [8,10]. Consequently, healthcare professionals, firms, and policymakers seek innovative ideas to increase interventions compliances and improve patient care.…”