Integrated care communities: putting change theory into practice
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the experience of the Advancing Quality Alliance's (AQuA) regional Integrated Care Discovery Community created to translate integrated care theory into practice at scale and to test ways to address the system enablers of integrated care.
Design/methodology/approach
Principles of flexibility, agility, credibility and scale influenced Community design. The theoretical framework drew on relevant complexity, learning community and change management theories. Co-designed with stakeholders, the discovery-based Community model incorporated emergent learning from change in complex adaptive environments and focused bespoke support on leadership capability building.
Findings
In total, 19 health and social care economies participated. Kotter's eight-step change model proved flexible in conjunction with large-scale change theories. The tension between programme management, learning communities and the emergent nature of change in complex adaptive systems can be harnessed to inject pace and urgency. Mental models and simple rules were helpful in managing participant's desire for a directive approach in the context of a discovery programme.
Research limitations/implications
This is a viewpoint from a regional improvement organisation in North West England.
Social implications
The Discovery Community was a useful construct through which to rapidly develop multiple integrated health and social care economies. Flexible design and bespoke delivery is crucial in a complex adaptive environment. Capability building needs to be agile enough to meet the emergent needs of a changing workforce. Collaborative leadership has emerged as an area requiring particular attention.
Originality/value
Learning from AQuA's approach may assist others in structuring large-scale integrated care or complex change initiatives.
Keywords
Citation
Bradbury, E. (2014), "Integrated care communities: putting change theory into practice", Journal of Integrated Care, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 132-141. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICA-06-2014-0022
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited