This course introduces you to the concepts, theories and application of Quality Improvement (QI) in healthcare from a global perspective. You will hear from patients, clinicians and academics what quality improvement means to them, and how they work together to deliver change. Studying the challenges, they faced and strategies they utilised to overcome those challenges, you will learn to apply and critique core QI methods, from experts in the field.
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By the end of this module you will be able to:
- Recognise the characteristics of different approaches to quality improvement in order to critique them and make decisions as to when to deploy them.
- Explain the necessary components of a structured approach to quality improvement in order to apply key quality improvement methods to support the planning, design, implementation and evaluation of improvement efforts.
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Healthcare Quality and Quality Improvement
In this module you will learn what is meant by quality in healthcare and why quality improvement is needed, and gain a high level appreciation for some important approaches to quality improvement. You will hear from a patient perspective about the implications of poor quality healthcare, and see some evidence of the global scale of the problem. You will learn about a well-studied example of a quality improvement initiative, the Michigan Keystone project. In addition, you will participate in activities to enable you to reflect on your own knowledge and experience of quality, and quality improvement, in health and care systems.
WEEK 2
Engaging and Empowering Stakeholders with a Shared Vision
In this second module of the course you will be introduced to stakeholder engagement and empowerment including the importance of community, patient and public involvement. You will engage with lived experiences of service users and communities working together with clinicians and academics to improve health and healthcare. You will learn about the importance of good leadership and building a shared vision, and how to practically develop a programme theory for improvement through the Action Effect method.
WEEK 3
Healthcare Processes: Mapping and Implementing Changes
This third module provides an introduction to process mapping and the Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle as tools to support QI in practice. These methods are core in many approaches to improvement, used to understand and then improve processes of care. You will hear from experts in the field about their use of these methods, and their experiences leading quality improvement in practice, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. You will learn about challenges they encountered and strategies they used to overcome them.
WEEK 4
Long Term Success and the Importance of Context
In this fourth module you will consider issues relating to the long term success of improvement initiatives – what influences whether improvement is sustained once achieved? You will apply an evidence-based tool promoting long term success to example QI initiatives. The context in which an improvement initiative takes place has a significant impact on both implementation and outcomes. Considering two contrasting case studies, one set in rural Guatemala and one in the USA, you will learn how to identify different elements of context and their interaction. In the later part of the module you will learn about common challenges and obstacles that QI teams face when designing and implementing their QI projects, including the role of fidelity in the application of quality improvement methods.
