Evaluation and Dissemination of a Checklist to Improve Implementation of Work Environment Initiatives in the Eldercare Sector: Protocol for a Prospective Observational Study

Charlotte Diana Nørregaard Rasmussen; Helene Højberg; Anne Konring Larsen; Pernille Kold Munch; Richard Osborne; Lydia Kwak; Irene Jensen; Laura Linnan; Marie Birk Jørgensen

doi:10.2196/16039

Evaluation and Dissemination of a Checklist to Improve Implementation of Work Environment Initiatives in the Eldercare Sector: Protocol for a Prospective Observational Study

JMIR Res Protoc. 2020 May 13;9(5):e16039. doi: 10.2196/16039.

Authors

Charlotte Diana Nørregaard Rasmussen¹, Helene Højberg¹, Anne Konring Larsen¹, Pernille Kold Munch¹, Richard Osborne², Lydia Kwak³, Irene Jensen³, Laura Linnan⁴, Marie Birk Jørgensen⁵

Affiliations

¹ The National Research Centre for the Working Environment, København Ø, Denmark.
² Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia.
³ Unit of Intervention and Implementation Research for Worker Health, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁴ Carolina Collaborative for Research on Work & Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
⁵ Health and Safety, Municipality of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

PMID: 32401212
PMCID: PMC7254284
DOI: 10.2196/16039

Abstract

Background: To measure sustainable improvements in the work environment, a flexible and highly responsive tool is needed that will give important focus to the implementation process. A digital checklist was developed in collaboration with key stakeholders to document the implementation of changes in eldercare sector workplaces.

Objective: This paper describes the study protocol of a dissemination study that aims to examine when, why, and how the digital checklist is spread to the Danish eldercare sector following a national campaign particularly targeting nursing homes and home care.

Methods: This prospective observational study will use quantitative data from Google Analytics describing use of the checklist as documented website engagement, a survey among members in the largest union in the sector, information from a central business register, and monitoring of campaign activities. The evaluation will be guided by the five elements of the RE-AIM framework: reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance.

Results: The study was approved in June 2016 and began in October 2018. The campaign that is the foundation for the evaluation began in 2017 and ended in 2018. However, the webpage where we collect data is still running. Results are expected in 2020.

Conclusions: This protocol provides a working example of how to evaluate dissemination of a checklist to improve implementation of work environment initiatives in the eldercare sector in Denmark. To our knowledge, implementation in a nationwide Danish work environment has not been previously undertaken. Given that the checklist is sector-specific for work environment initiatives and developed through systematic collaboration between research and practice, it is likely to have high utility and impact; however, the proposed evaluation will determine this. This study will advance dissemination research and, in particular, the evaluation of the impact of these types of studies. Finally, this study advances the field through digital tools that can be used for evaluation of dissemination efforts (eg, Google Analytics associated with website) in the context of a rigorous research design activity.

International registered report identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/16039.

Keywords: RE-AIM; digital; implementation; workplace.

©Charlotte Diana Nørregaard Rasmussen, Helene Højberg, Anne Konring Larsen, Pernille Kold Munch, Richard Osborne, Lydia Kwak, Irene Jensen, Laura Linnan, Marie Birk Jørgensen. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 13.05.2020.