Navigating the facilitation journey: a qualitative, longitudinal evaluation of ‘Eat Walk Engage’ novice and experienced facilitators

BMC Health Services Research · 8 authors, 9 centres

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TL;DR

This qualitative, longitudinal study tracked how novice facilitators learned and developed their skills over 18 months through mentorship from experienced facilitators while implementing a hospital-based intervention. The central result is that novices transitioned to more experienced roles through structured support, reflection, and networking, consistent with the i-PARIHS facilitation model.

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The study used a descriptive qualitative longitudinal design to follow four novice and two experienced facilitators implementing the 'Eat Walk Engage' intervention over 18 months. Repeat interviews explored their learning, development, and roles. Findings revealed experiential learning and progression along the facilitation continuum. Critical support strategies included staggered learning, regular meetings, reflective writing, and peer networking. The study concludes that within a peer network and mentored relationship, novices can transition to become experienced facilitators. This requires time and tailored mentorship using structured and flexible approaches. Limitations include a small sample, reliance on interview data only, and the absence of objective measures of skill development.

STUDY TYPE

other

SPECIALTY

geriatrics

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AI pipeline

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100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10588033

Navigating the facilitation journey: a qualitative, longitudinal evaluation of ‘Eat Walk Engage’ novice and experienced facilitators

BMC Health Services Research

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ABSTRACT

Background The Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) and integrated-PARIHS (i-PARIHS) frameworks position facilitation as an overarching strategy to enable implementation. In the revised i-PARIHS framework, facilitation is operationalised through a multi-level model with novice, experienced and expert facilitators working together in a network structure to build facilitation knowledge and skills along a continuum. To date, there has been limited evaluation of this facilitation model in practice, which is the aim of the study reported here. Methods A descriptive, qualitative longitudinal study was undertaken to track a team of four novice and two experienced facilitators involved in facilitating the implementation of an intervention known as ‘Eat Walk Engage’ to improve multidisciplinary team delivery of age-friendly care principles in hospital. Over an 18-month period, repeat interviews were conducted to explore the learning, development, and evolving roles of novice facilitators and the roles of the experienced facilitators in providing support and mentoring. Interview data were analysed using a descriptive qualitative approach and findings were interpreted in collaboration with the participating facilitators. Results The findings demonstrated experiential learning in both the novice and experienced facilitator groups as they enacted their roles in practice. The novice facilitators progressively transitioned to becoming more experienced facilitators and the experienced facilitators became increasingly expert, in line with the i-PARIHS concept of a facilitation journey from novice to expert. Strategies to support this development included a staggered approach to learning, regular meetings between the experienced and novice facilitators, reflective writing and informal peer support and networking. However, the roles were not without challenge and these challenges changed over time, from a more specific focus on the demands of the facilitator role to concerns about embedding and sustaining improvements in practice. Conclusions Within a network of peers and a mentored relationship with more experienced facilitators, individuals who are new to an implementation facilitator role can transition along a continuum to become experienced facilitators. Building implementation facilitation capability in this way takes time and requires tailored support and mentorship using a mix of structured and flexible approaches incorporating opportunities for reflection to support individual and group learning.

CITATION EXPORT

Gillian Harvey, Sarah Collyer, Prue McRae et al.. Navigating the facilitation journey: a qualitative, longitudinal evaluation of ‘Eat Walk Engage’ novice and experienced facilitators. BMC Health Services Research. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-10116-3

AUTHORS

8 · 9 CENTRES

Gillian Harvey, Sarah Collyer, Prue McRae, Sally E. Barrimore, Camey Demmitt, Karen Lee-Steere, Bernadette Nolan, Alison M. Mudge

1https://ror.org/01kpzv902grid.1014.40000 0004 0367 2697Caring Futures Institute, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
2https://ror.org/03pnv4752grid.1024.70000 0000 8915 0953Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
3https://ror.org/05p52kj31grid.416100.20000 0001 0688 4634Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Department of Internal Medicine and Aged Care, Brisbane, Australia
4grid.1024.70000000089150953Queensland University of Technology Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Brisbane, Australia
5https://ror.org/02cetwy62grid.415184.d0000 0004 0614 0266The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Australia
6Caboolture Hospital, Caboolture, Queensland Australia
7grid.1003.20000 0000 9320 7537University of Queensland Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, Brisbane, Australia
8https://ror.org/00c1dt378grid.415606.00000 0004 0380 0804Queensland Health, Birtinya, Australia
9https://ror.org/00rqy9422grid.1003.20000 0000 9320 7537University of Queensland Faculty of Medicine, Brisbane, Australia