Organizational Support in Healthcare Redesign Education: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Study of Expert Coach and Executive Sponsor Experiences

Abstract

Healthcare organizations must continue to improve services to meet the rising demand and patient expectations. For this to occur, the health workforce needs to have knowledge and skills to design, implement, and evaluate service improvement interventions. Studies have shown that effective training in health service improvement and redesign combines didactic education with experiential project-based learning and on-the-ground coaching. Project-based learning requires organizational support and oversight, generally through executive sponsorship. A mixed-methods approach, comprising online surveys and semi-structured interviews, was used to explore the experiences of expert coaches and executive sponsors as key facilitators of workplace-based projects undertaken during an Australian postgraduate healthcare redesign course. Fifteen (54%) expert coaches and 37 (20%) executive sponsors completed the online survey. Ten expert coaches and six executive sponsors participated in interviews. The survey data revealed overall positive experiences for coaches and mixed experiences for sponsors. Interview participants expressed a sense of fulfillment that came from working with project teams to deliver a successful project and educational outcomes. However, concerns were raised about adequate resourcing, organizational recognition, competing priorities, and the skills required to effectively coach and sponsor. Expert coaches and executive sponsors sometimes felt under-valued and may benefit from cohort-tailored and evidence-based professional development.

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“…Todas as conclusões foram feitas através do método da polêmica -trata-se de uma discussão fundamentada em um grupo de pesquisadores dos problemas e formas de resolvê-los para formar um modelo qualitativo da imagem do paradigma ( VAN DAM et al, 2020).…”

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“…8 Our courses are designed to support these activities through partnerships with healthcare organisations, who provide organisational oversight of projects and support, such as access to service and administrative data sets, provides a constructive educational culture. 9,10 In addition, we deliver a number of face-to-face masterclass days which align with units around project planning and intervention design.…”