Summary of key learning from Week 3

This week, we explored the role of leadership, implementation, and improving your practice. We introduced the Healthy Addiction Treatment (HAT) recovery model and how it can be used to assess your clients’ key needs and implemented to improve your practice and the wellbeing of your patients. In this week’s interviews with experts, we explored a practical real-life example in a community addiction treatment setting.

We learnt about the importance of operational models which are used as a guide to practice. Within nursing they were developed to define what is nursing and what it could be. We looked at various models including the BRENDA Model, the FRAMES model, the Tidal model, t We then presented the HAT model.

We then presented an article on how to identify client needs. We now know that a client-centred approach is recommended internationally. As discussed before, the steps for implementing a client-centred approach involves identifying the needs of the clients by engaging them in a two-way conversation, listening to their specific needs and implementing the service solutions to meet their identified needs. We discussed how the HAT model identified client needs and you were presented with key survey instruments used to measure these client needs.

We then introduced the concept of leadership in healthcare and its importance. We learnt that distributed leadership has emerged as an innovative alternative to the traditional top-down leadership structure. We now know that effective leaders within an organisation may not necessarily be in a position of authority while those in authority may not necessarily be effective leaders. It was also stated that distributed leadership enables the action and influence of people at all levels within an organisation and supports interventions from wider communities of health professionals. We then looked at how distributed leadership contributed to the HAT model. We heard from Aine Hall, the assistant director of nursing working with the Irish Health system the HSE, on the implementation of the HAT model and she shared her insights on the implementation process and the leadership.

We then explored the various implementation frameworks specifically relevant to healthcare. Research has shown that frameworks help researchers and health professionals to focus their efforts on aspects that are most needed by facilitating a systematic approach to evaluation. Having a framework from the start ensures that all stakeholders have a shared understanding of the programme and the implementation process, which provides clarity on the goals and objectives. You were then presented with the Four Stages of Implementation, Implementation Enablers and Stages, Plan Do Act Study Cycle, and the Real Time Interactive Operational Research frameworks.

And finally, we looked at the next steps, implementing change and case management, and here we explored another model called RE-AIM which is relevant for implementing change in healthcare settings.