Beyond Implementation: Sustaining Group Prenatal Care and Group Well ‐Child Care

This study examined barriers to sustainabili ty and offers suggestions for sustaining group care programs.MethodsThis qualitative research was guided by interpretive description. Semistructured interviews with 17 professionals were conducted in 4 sites in one community to explore barriers to sustaining group care and key ingredients for sustainability. Sites were 2 clinics that had provided group prenatal care, a clinic currently providing group prenatal care, and a clinic currently providing group well ‐child care. Two clinics have continued providing group care and 2 have discontinued it. Participants included midwives, physicians, nurses, and nurse practitioners. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and entered inATLAS.ti. A priori and inductive coding schemes were developed; code content was compared across individuals, participant types, and settings.ResultsFive themes were identified: administrative buy ‐in, robust recruitment, clinician and staff buy‐in, owning it, and sustainability mindset. Group care needs to be sold to many different constituencies: administrators, staff and clinicians, and patients. Furthermore, sustainability requires having a conscious awareness of the importance of sus tainability from the outset, taking ownership by adapting group care to needs of settings, creating venues for expressing divergent viewpoints and problem‐solving, and recognizing that these processes are ongoing with change occurring incrementally. It also includ...
Source: Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health - Category: Midwifery Authors: Tags: Original Research Source Type: research