Exploring Care Home Workers' Perceptions of Implementing ECHO: A Qualitative Study

IF 1.6 4区医学 Q4 GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY

International Journal of Older People Nursing Pub Date : 2025-02-13 DOI:10.1111/opn.70017

Michelle Beattie, Kevin Muirhead, Nicola Carey

{"title":"Exploring Care Home Workers' Perceptions of Implementing ECHO: A Qualitative Study","authors":"Michelle Beattie, Kevin Muirhead, Nicola Carey","doi":"10.1111/opn.70017","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Background</h3>\n \n <p>To ensure older people living in care homes receive optimal care, care home workers (CHWs) require access to specialist support and education. Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) uses existing videoconferencing to connect CHWs to specialists using case-based learning. There is evidence in other settings to suggest that ECHO can improve practitioner knowledge and patient outcomes. There is a dearth of evidence regarding strategies for effective implementation of ECHO with CHWs.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Aim</h3>\n \n <p>To establish the experiences of ECHO, and the barriers and enablers to implementation, from the perspective of CHWs in Scotland.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Methods</h3>\n \n <p>Qualitative online focus groups (<i>n</i> = 4) with CHWs (<i>n</i> = 13) who had participated in at least one care home ECHO session and with facilitators/presenters (<i>n</i> = 6). Transcripts were thematically analysed.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Findings</h3>\n \n <p>Findings were grouped into three areas: perceived impact, inhibitors and enablers. CHWs reported the positive impact of ECHO including key benefits to enhance residents' care, satisfaction with the sessions and feeling valued. Inhibitors included limited digital skills, workforce challenges and the pitch and duration of ECHO sessions. Enablers included administrative and technical support, scheduling and the structure of the ECHO approach.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Conclusions</h3>\n \n <p>ECHO allows CHWs to access specialist support, enabling learning and development, with the potential to improve residents' care. Benefits to residents' care included CHWs' enhanced understanding of choices around death and dying, and insights and understanding of causation of challenging behaviours in older people and how to manage these. Adaptations to ECHO to suit a care home context are recommended.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Implications for Practice</h3>\n \n <p>CHWs require technical support to build competence and confidence in IT skills. This study highlights the potential for ECHO to support CHWs to access specialist support and learning for older adults in a care home context.</p>\n </section>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":48651,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Older People Nursing","volume":"20 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/opn.70017","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Older People Nursing","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/opn.70017","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

To ensure older people living in care homes receive optimal care, care home workers (CHWs) require access to specialist support and education. Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) uses existing videoconferencing to connect CHWs to specialists using case-based learning. There is evidence in other settings to suggest that ECHO can improve practitioner knowledge and patient outcomes. There is a dearth of evidence regarding strategies for effective implementation of ECHO with CHWs.

Aim

To establish the experiences of ECHO, and the barriers and enablers to implementation, from the perspective of CHWs in Scotland.

Methods

Qualitative online focus groups (n = 4) with CHWs (n = 13) who had participated in at least one care home ECHO session and with facilitators/presenters (n = 6). Transcripts were thematically analysed.

Findings

Findings were grouped into three areas: perceived impact, inhibitors and enablers. CHWs reported the positive impact of ECHO including key benefits to enhance residents' care, satisfaction with the sessions and feeling valued. Inhibitors included limited digital skills, workforce challenges and the pitch and duration of ECHO sessions. Enablers included administrative and technical support, scheduling and the structure of the ECHO approach.

Conclusions

ECHO allows CHWs to access specialist support, enabling learning and development, with the potential to improve residents' care. Benefits to residents' care included CHWs' enhanced understanding of choices around death and dying, and insights and understanding of causation of challenging behaviours in older people and how to manage these. Adaptations to ECHO to suit a care home context are recommended.

Implications for Practice

CHWs require technical support to build competence and confidence in IT skills. This study highlights the potential for ECHO to support CHWs to access specialist support and learning for older adults in a care home context.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

探讨护理院工作者对实施ECHO的认知：一项质性研究

为了确保住在养老院的老年人得到最佳的照顾，养老院工作人员（chw）需要获得专家支持和教育。社区医疗保健成果扩展（ECHO）使用现有的视频会议，通过基于案例的学习将卫生保健工作者与专家联系起来。有证据表明，在其他情况下，回声可以提高医生的知识和病人的结果。关于在卫生保健工作者中有效实施ECHO的战略缺乏证据。目的从苏格兰卫生保健工作者的角度，建立ECHO的经验，以及实施的障碍和推动因素。方法定性在线焦点小组（n = 4），其中13名chw （n = 13）至少参加过一次养老院ECHO会话，并有辅导员/演讲者（n = 6）。对转录本进行主题分析。研究结果分为三个方面：感知影响、抑制因素和促进因素。安老院报告了ECHO的积极影响，包括在改善住院病人的护理、满意度和感觉受到重视方面的主要好处。阻碍因素包括有限的数字技能、劳动力挑战以及ECHO会议的音调和持续时间。促成因素包括管理和技术支持、调度和ECHO方法的结构。结论：ECHO使保健员能够获得专家支持，促进学习和发展，有可能改善居民的护理。对居民护理的好处包括卫生保健员增强了对死亡和临终选择的理解，以及对老年人挑战性行为的因果关系以及如何管理这些行为的见解和理解。建议对ECHO进行调整以适应养老院的环境。对实务的影响健康护理人员需要技术支援，以建立对资讯科技技能的能力和信心。这项研究强调了ECHO支持chw在养老院环境中获得专家支持和老年人学习的潜力。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

International Journal of Older People Nursing Nursing-Gerontology

CiteScore

3.60

自引率

9.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： International Journal of Older People Nursing welcomes scholarly papers on all aspects of older people nursing including research, practice, education, management, and policy. We publish manuscripts that further scholarly inquiry and improve practice through innovation and creativity in all aspects of gerontological nursing. We encourage submission of integrative and systematic reviews; original quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research; secondary analyses of existing data; historical works; theoretical and conceptual analyses; evidence based practice projects and other practice improvement reports; and policy analyses. All submissions must reflect consideration of IJOPN''s international readership and include explicit perspective on gerontological nursing. We particularly welcome submissions from regions of the world underrepresented in the gerontological nursing literature and from settings and situations not typically addressed in that literature. Editorial perspectives are published in each issue. Editorial perspectives are submitted by invitation only.