Contextual Factors and Mechanisms that Influence Sustainability: A Realist Evaluation of Two Provincially Scaled Evidence-Based Initiatives

Abstract

Background: In 2012, Alberta Health Services created Strategic Clinical NetworksTM (SCNs) to develop and implement evidence-informed, clinician-led and team-delivered health system improvement in Alberta, Canada. SCNs have had several provincial successes in improving health outcomes. Little research has been done on the sustainability of these efforts. Methods: We conducted a qualitative realist evaluation using a case study approach to identify and explain the contextual factors and mechanisms perceived to influence the sustainability of two provincial SCN initiatives. The context (C) + mechanism (M) = outcome (O) configurations (CMOcs) heuristic guided our research. Results: We conducted thirty realist interviews in two cases and found four important mechanisms facilitating sustainability: the use of a collaborative approach audit & feedback, the informal leadership role, and patient stories. Informal leaders were often hands-on and influential to front-line staff. Learning collaboratives broke down professional and organizational silos and encouraged collective sharing and learning, motivating participants to continue with the initiative. Continual audit-feedback interventions motivated participants to want to perform and improve on a long-term basis, increasing the likelihood of initiative sustainability. Patient stories demonstrated the initiatives’ impact on patient outcomes, motivating staff to want to continue doing the initiative, and increasing the likelihood of its sustainability. Conclusions: There are important contextual factors and mechanisms within sustainment processes that may apply to systems change implementers. Our research revealed the causal relationship between implementation and sustainability and how outcomes from implementation shape sustainability contexts. Future work is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of informal leadership, learning collaboratives, audit-feedback, and patient stories as sustainability interventions, to generate better guidance on planning sustainable improvements with long term impact.