ACHIEVING SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS IN ELDERLY CARE ORGANIZATIONS IMPLEMENTATION OF BREAKTHROUGH PROJECTS IN SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS FOR ELDERLY

Abstract

Recent innovations in the medical field improve the opportunities to treat diseases and injuries better, even at an advanced age. In addition, the Swedish population is reported as growing steadily older. In order to cope with those challenges, Swedish healthcare organizations in the public sector undertake many different improvement efforts. One of those improvement efforts is the use of the Breakthrough Method in the public healthcare sector. Therefore, the intent of this study to explore how to achieve successful implementation of improvement projects in elderly care organizations and specifically the implementation of a Breakthrough Project. The research concentrates on nursing homes, and especially the caregivers level that is involved directly in patient care. The paper evaluates the means of successful implementation of improvement projects from a learning perspective. Therefore, the formal and informal learning process of caregivers in nursing homes is presented and discussed. In addition, influential factors affecting learning process are also addressed in relation to their impact on the process. Findings of the study indicate the strong need to better understand the learning process of caregivers. Another important finding addresses the lack of a feedback system in nursing homes and aspires to give recommendations to strengthen the means of follow-up systems. In addition, the importance of using formal and informal systems as complimentary systems is also another significant finding which clarifies the importance of communities in the nursing home.