Background: Improving care for people living with dementia when they are admitted to hospital is a national priority. Interventions have been designed and implemented to support staff to improve how they provide care to patients with dementia. However, there is limited understanding of how these interventions work in practice and what the outcomes are for patients and their family carers. Objective: To develop, test, and refine a theory-driven explanation of what supports hospital staff to provide dementia-friendly care and with what outcomes for people living with dementia and their carers. Method: A two-phase study design employing realist methodology. Phase one was a realist review which combined evidence from stakeholder interviews and literature searches. Phase two used realist evaluation to analyse data collected from two NHS Hospital Trusts in the East of England to test the theory developed in phase one. Findings: Initial scoping in the realist review identified three candidate theories which structured the literature searches and analysis. Six related context-mechanism-outcome configurations were identified and collectively made the initial programme theory. The review found that single strategies, such as dementia awareness training, would not on their own change how staff provide care for patients with dementia. An important context was for staff to understand behaviour as a form of communication. Organisational endorsement for dementia care and clarity in staff roles was important for staff to recognise dementia care as a legitimate part of their work. The realist evaluation refined the programme theory. While the study sites had applied resources for patients with dementia differently, there were crosscutting themes which demonstrated how key mechanisms and contexts influenced staff actions and patient outcomes. When staff were allocated time to spend with patients and drew on their knowledge of the patient with dementia and dementia care skills, staff could provide care in ways that reassured patients and recognised their personhood. However, accepted organisational and social norms for care practices influenced whether staff considered providing skilled dementia care was an important contribution to the work on the ward. This impacted on how staff prioritised their work, which influenced whether they recognised and addressed patient needs such as pain or hunger, made attempts to reduce distress, and if patients and carers considered they were listened to. Organisational focuses, such as risk management, influenced how patient need was defined and how staffing resources were allocated. Staff commitment to continuing in dementia care was influenced by whether or not they valued dementia care as skilled work. Discussion: Single strategies, such as the use of dementia awareness training, will not on their own improve the outcomes for patients with dementia when they are admitted to hospitals. In addition, attention needs to be paid to the role of senior managers and their knowledge of dementia to support staff to provide care in ways that recognise the needs of the person. The way dementia care is valued within an organisation has implications for how resources are organised and how staff consider their role in providing dementia care. Evidence from observations demonstrated that when staff are supported to provide good dementia care, patients experienced positive outcomes in terms of their needs being addressed and reducing distress. Dementia care needs to be recognised as skilled work by the staff and the organisation.

Yes / Falls are the most common safety incident reported by acute hospitals. In England national guidance recommends delivery of a multifactorial falls risk assessment (MFRA) and interventions tailored to address individual falls risk factors. However, there is variation in how these practices are implemented. This study aimed to explore the variation by examining what supports or constrains delivery of MFRAs and tailored interventions in acute hospitals. A realist review of literature was conducted with searches completed in three stages: (1) to construct hypotheses in the form of Context, Mechanism, Outcome configurations (CMOc) about how MFRAs and interventions are delivered, (2) to scope the breadth and depth of evidence available in Embase to test the CMOcs, and (3) following prioritisation of CMOcs, to refine search strategies for use in multiple databases. Citations were managed in EndNote; titles, s, and full texts were screened, with 10% independently screened by two reviewers. Two CMOcs were prioritised for testing labelled: Facilitation via MFRA tools, and Patient Participation in interventions. Analysis indicated that MFRA tools can prompt action, but the number and type of falls risk factors included in tools differ across organisations leading to variation in practice. Furthermore, the extent to which tools work as prompts is influenced by complex ward conditions such as changes in patient condition, bed swaps, and availability of falls prevention interventions. Patient participation in falls prevention interventions is more likely where patient directed messaging takes individual circumstances into account, e.g., not wanting to disturb nurses by using the call bell. However, interactions that elicit individual circumstances can be resource intensive and patients with cognitive impairment may not be able to participate despite appropriately directed messaging. Organisations should consider how tools can be developed in ways that better support consistent and comprehensive identification of patients' individual falls risk factors and the complex ward conditions that can disrupt how tools work as facilitators. Ward staff should be supported to deliver patient directed messaging that is informed by their individual circumstances to encourage participation in falls prevention interventions, where appropriate. PROSPERO: CRD42020184458. / This research is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) Programme (project number NIHR129488).

Clinicians and hospital administrators are increasingly challenged to achieve efficient evidence-based care. Clinical decision support (CDS) tools are being introduced into the clinical setting to facilitate the bridging of knowledge gaps at the point of care. Order sets are one of the tools used to facilitate this knowledge translation. Using the realist review methodology and a focus group of interview participants, this thesis explored retrospectively some of the causal relationships that lead to effective and successful order set adoption. Findings demonstrate the need for in-depth and regular review of context and order set adoption. Technology can offer some enhancements in the form of delivery tools, but it also introduces new and complex challenges for development and implementation. Ongoing software development is needed to improve delivery formats as well as incorporate effective tools to allow for efficient continuous quality improvement supports. / Graduate / 0769 / 0566 / hallsm.77@gmail.com

No / Falls are the most common safety incident reported by acute hospitals. NICE recommends multifactorial falls risk assessment and tailored interventions, but implementation is variable. Determine how and in what contexts multifactorial falls risk assessment and tailored interventions are used in acute NHS hospitals in England. Design: Realist review and multi-site case study. (1) Systematic searches to identify stakeholders’ theories, tested using empirical data from primary studies. Review of falls prevention policies of acute Trusts. (2) Theory testing and refinement through observation, staff interviews (N=50), patient and carer interviews (N=31), and record review (N=60). Setting: Three Trusts, one orthopaedic and one older person ward in each. Results: Seventy-eight studies were used for theory construction and 50 for theory testing. Four theories were explored: (1) Leadership: Wards had falls link practitioners but authority to allocate resources for falls prevention resided with senior nurses. (2) Shared Responsibility: A key falls prevention strategy was patient supervision. This fell to nursing staff, constraining the extent to which responsibility for falls prevention could be shared. (3) Facilitation: Assessments were consistently documented but workload pressures could reduce this to a tick-box exercise. Assessment items varied. While individual patient risk factors were identified, patients were categorised as high or low risk to determine who should receive supervision. (4) Patient Participation: Nursing staff lacked time to explain to patients their falls risks or how to prevent themselves from falling, although other staff could do so. Sensitive communication could prevent patients taking actions that increase their risk of falling. Limitations: Within the realist review, we completed synthesis for only two theories. We could not access patient records before observations, preventing assessment of whether care plans were enacted. Conclusions: (1) Leadership: There should be a clear distinction between senior nurses’ roles and falls link practitioners in relation to falls prevention; (2) Shared Responsibility: Trusts should consider how processes and systems, including the electronic health record, can be revised to better support a multidisciplinary approach, and alternatives to patient supervision should be considered; (3) Facilitation: Trusts should consider how to reduce documentation burden and avoid tick-box responses, and ensure items included in the falls risk assessment tools align with guidance. Falls risk assessment tools and falls care plans should be presented as tools to support practice, rather than something to be audited; (4) Patient Participation: Trusts should consider how they can ensure patients receive individualised information about risks and preventing falls and provide staff with guidance on brief but sensitive ways to talk with patients to reduce the likelihood of actions that increase their risk of falling. Future work: (1) Development and evaluation of interventions to support multidisciplinary teams to undertake, and involve patients in, multifactorial falls risk assessment and selection and delivery of tailored interventions; (2) Mixed method and economic evaluations of patient supervision; (3) Evaluation of engagement support workers, volunteers, and/or carers to support falls prevention. Research should include those with cognitive impairment and patients who do not speak English. / This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme and will be published in the Health and Social Care Delivery Research Journal.

The internet has radically changed the way people obtain and interact with information about diseases, treatments, and conditions. Yet, our understanding of how people access and use health information to make decisions- in other words, their health literacy- has not progressed. The overall aim of this thesis is to assess the extent to which health literacy is a valid and useful construct for policy and practice related to online health resources. A mixed-methods research programme of five studies was undertaken, influenced by realist evaluation methodology. First, to ascertain engagement with user-generated online health content (UGC) in the UK, analysis of a large European survey was undertaken. Then, the uncertainty regarding the relationship between health literacy and outcomes was addressed by a systematic review and qualitative analysis of health literacy measures. Results of these two studies informed interviews carried out with 13 'key informants': policymakers and primary care clinicians in the UK with a particular interest in health literacy and/or online information. A systematic review, incorporating a traditional narrative review and a realist review, evaluated existing trials addressing how effects of online resources vary by health literacy level. Finally, data were analysed from a feasibility randomized controlled trial, comparing usage and outcomes of accessing a 'personal experiences'-based asthma website (representing curated user-generated content) versus a 'facts and figures'-based website. Participant health literacy was assessed using an index identified from the systematic review of measures, and website usage was tracked. Approximately 25% of UK internet users engage with UGC at least monthly. The most frequent users were younger, more likely to be male, and to be carers for someone with a long-term illness. Three themes were identified from health literacy measurement: 'appropriate health decisions', 'ability to obtain healthcare services', and 'confidence'. Key informants noted the lack of clarity about how health literacy influences outcomes, and suggested that personal preferences and digital access and skills may be more relevant than health literacy for policy and practice. Existing trials of online resources in which participant health literacy was measured were mostly at high risk of bias; some possible explanations of how these interventions should work in people with low health literacy were that they may experience higher data entry burden related to chronic diseases, and that they may prefer simulated face-to-face communication. Finally, there were no differences between health literacy groups in the feasibility trial regarding usage or outcomes related to either the 'facts and figures' or 'personal experiences' websites. Taken together, these results question the validity and appropriateness of health literacy as a key objective or consideration in the development or use of online resources. While health literacy has value as a general idea, this thesis demonstrates that it may no longer be the right construct to guide intervention development and implementation to improve health outcomes.

Problématique : Il est de plus en plus clair que la pérennité des systèmes de santé repose en partie sur un élargissement des soins offerts par des équipes de première ligne. Il existe de nombreux exemples de modèles de soins primaires performants dans plusieurs pays. Par contre, en général, le Québec peine à atteindre ses objectifs d’accessibilité, d’équité et d’efficience. Les études s’accumulent sur l'importance des soins infirmiers en soins de santé primaire, mais elles fournissent peu de données sur comment entreprendre ces changements en fonction des éléments contextuels propres à chaque milieu. La complexité des interventions à mettre en place pose de nombreux défis. Objectif : Ce mémoire rapporte les résultats d'une revue réaliste portant sur l'optimisation de la contribution des infirmières dans les équipes interprofessionnelles en soins de santé primaire. Méthodologie : Pour ce faire, une analyse de la littérature, basée sur la revue réaliste et l’analyse logique, a permis de déterminer des caractéristiques structurelles désirables de modèles de services de première ligne qui tendent à une contribution étendue ou optimisée des équipes interprofessionnelles. Résultats : La revue réaliste a permis d'élaborer deux typologies analytiques permettant d'établir des bases de fonctionnement cohérentes pour améliorer la performance des modèles de services de première ligne. Conclusion : Ces typologies souhaitent ultimement faciliter l'utilisation des données probantes aux décideurs afin de soutenir les processus de transformation nécessaires en première ligne au Québec. / Background: It increasingly appears that the sustainability of health systems depends in part on expanding the care provided by primary care teams. There are many examples of successful primary care models in several countries. However, Quebec generally fails to meet its objectives of accessibility, equity and efficiency. There is growing evidence on the importance of nursing care in primary health services, but it provides little actionable advice on how to reform primary care models given the diversity of clinical settings. The complexity of the interventions needed to reform primary care models is a challenge. Objective: This research reports the results of a realist review on optimizing the contribution of interprofessional and nursing teams in primary health care. Method: An analysis of the literature based on the realist review and the logic analysis was conducted to determine the desirable structural characteristics of health care services models that tend to an extended or optimized contribution of interprofessional teams. Results: The realist review helped to develop two analytical typologies to establish coherent operating bases to improve the performance of models of primary health services. Practice implications : These typologies ultimately aim to facilitate the use of evidence for decision makers to support the necessary transformation processes of primary health care in Quebec.

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