'Doing more with Less': A qualitative investigation of perceptions of South African health service managers on implementation of health innovations

Building resilience in health systems is an imperative for low- and middle- income countries. Health service managers' ability to implement health innovations may be a key aspect of resilience in primary healthcare facilities, promoting adaptability and functionality. This study investigated he...

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Main Authors: Brooke-Sumner, C., Petersen-Williams, P., Kruger, J., Mahomed, H., Myers-Franchi, Bronwyn
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: OXFORD UNIV PRESS 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/85655
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author Brooke-Sumner, C.
Petersen-Williams, P.
Kruger, J.
Mahomed, H.
Myers-Franchi, Bronwyn
author_facet Brooke-Sumner, C.
Petersen-Williams, P.
Kruger, J.
Mahomed, H.
Myers-Franchi, Bronwyn
author_sort Brooke-Sumner, C.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Building resilience in health systems is an imperative for low- and middle- income countries. Health service managers' ability to implement health innovations may be a key aspect of resilience in primary healthcare facilities, promoting adaptability and functionality. This study investigated health service managers' perceptions and experiences of adopting health innovations. We aimed to identify perceptions of constraints to adoption and emergent behaviours in response to these constraints. A convenience sample of 34 facility, clinical service and sub-district level managers was invited to participate. Six did not respond and were not contactable. In-depth individual interviews in a private space at participants' place of work were conducted with 28 participants. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. NVivo 11 was used to store data and facilitate framework analysis. Study participants described constraints to innovation adoption including: staff lack of understanding of potential benefits; staff personalities, attitudes and behaviours which lead to resistance to change; high workload related to resource constraints and frequent policy changes inducing resistance to change; and suboptimal communication through health system structures. Managers reported employing various strategies to mitigate these constraints. These comprised (1) technical skills including participatory management skills, communication skills, community engagement skills and programme monitoring and evaluation skills, and (2) nontechnical skills including role modelling positive attitudes, understanding staff personalities, influencing perceptions of innovations, influencing organizational climate and building trusting relationships. Managers have a vital role in the embedding of service innovations into routine practice. We present a framework of technical and non-technical skills that managers need to facilitate the adoption of health innovations. Future efforts to build managers' capacity to implement health innovations should target these competencies.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-856552021-10-21T03:58:07Z 'Doing more with Less': A qualitative investigation of perceptions of South African health service managers on implementation of health innovations Brooke-Sumner, C. Petersen-Williams, P. Kruger, J. Mahomed, H. Myers-Franchi, Bronwyn Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Health Care Sciences & Services Health Policy & Services Primary care innovation adoption managers resilience mental health PRIMARY-CARE LEADERSHIP ADOPTION SYSTEM TRUST READINESS Building resilience in health systems is an imperative for low- and middle- income countries. Health service managers' ability to implement health innovations may be a key aspect of resilience in primary healthcare facilities, promoting adaptability and functionality. This study investigated health service managers' perceptions and experiences of adopting health innovations. We aimed to identify perceptions of constraints to adoption and emergent behaviours in response to these constraints. A convenience sample of 34 facility, clinical service and sub-district level managers was invited to participate. Six did not respond and were not contactable. In-depth individual interviews in a private space at participants' place of work were conducted with 28 participants. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. NVivo 11 was used to store data and facilitate framework analysis. Study participants described constraints to innovation adoption including: staff lack of understanding of potential benefits; staff personalities, attitudes and behaviours which lead to resistance to change; high workload related to resource constraints and frequent policy changes inducing resistance to change; and suboptimal communication through health system structures. Managers reported employing various strategies to mitigate these constraints. These comprised (1) technical skills including participatory management skills, communication skills, community engagement skills and programme monitoring and evaluation skills, and (2) nontechnical skills including role modelling positive attitudes, understanding staff personalities, influencing perceptions of innovations, influencing organizational climate and building trusting relationships. Managers have a vital role in the embedding of service innovations into routine practice. We present a framework of technical and non-technical skills that managers need to facilitate the adoption of health innovations. Future efforts to build managers' capacity to implement health innovations should target these competencies. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/85655 10.1093/heapol/czz017 English http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ OXFORD UNIV PRESS fulltext
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Health Care Sciences & Services
Health Policy & Services
Primary care
innovation adoption
managers
resilience
mental health
PRIMARY-CARE
LEADERSHIP
ADOPTION
SYSTEM
TRUST
READINESS
Brooke-Sumner, C.
Petersen-Williams, P.
Kruger, J.
Mahomed, H.
Myers-Franchi, Bronwyn
'Doing more with Less': A qualitative investigation of perceptions of South African health service managers on implementation of health innovations
title 'Doing more with Less': A qualitative investigation of perceptions of South African health service managers on implementation of health innovations
title_full 'Doing more with Less': A qualitative investigation of perceptions of South African health service managers on implementation of health innovations
title_fullStr 'Doing more with Less': A qualitative investigation of perceptions of South African health service managers on implementation of health innovations
title_full_unstemmed 'Doing more with Less': A qualitative investigation of perceptions of South African health service managers on implementation of health innovations
title_short 'Doing more with Less': A qualitative investigation of perceptions of South African health service managers on implementation of health innovations
title_sort 'doing more with less': a qualitative investigation of perceptions of south african health service managers on implementation of health innovations
topic Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Health Care Sciences & Services
Health Policy & Services
Primary care
innovation adoption
managers
resilience
mental health
PRIMARY-CARE
LEADERSHIP
ADOPTION
SYSTEM
TRUST
READINESS
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/85655