Capability for change at community health centers serving Asian Pacific Islanders: an exploratory study of a cancer...

Understanding and enhancing change capabilities, including Practice Adaptive Reserve (PAR), of Community Health Centers (CHCs) may mitigate cancer-related health disparities.

Using stratified random sampling, we recruited 232 staff from seven CHCs serving Asian Pacific Islander communities to complete a self-administered survey. We performed multilevel regression analyses to examine PAR composite scores by CHC, position type, and number of years worked at their clinic.

The mean PAR score was 0.7 (s.d. 0.14). Higher scores were associated with a greater perceived likelihood that clinic staff would participate in an evidence-based intervention (EBI). Constructs such as communication, clinic flow, sensemaking, change valence, and resource availability were positively associated with EBI implementation or trended toward significance.

PAR scores are positively associated with perceived likelihood of clinic staff participation in cancer screening EBI. Future research is needed to determine PAR levels most conducive to implementing change and to developing interventions that enhance Adaptive Reserve.