Towards implementing coordinated healthy lifestyle promotion in primary care: a mixed method study

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Implementation Science

Background:

• Primary care settings are encouraged to integrate healthy lifestyle promotion.
• Current implementation of lifestyle promotion in primary care is suboptimal.
• Coordinated care models may enhance lifestyle promotion, but implementation knowledge is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the implementation of a coordinated healthy lifestyle promotion initiative in primary care.
• To understand the process of embedding coordinated care for lifestyle promotion.

Main Methods:

• Mixed-method convergent parallel design over two years in three primary care centers.
• Data collected via individual interviews, document analysis, and questionnaires.
• Analysis utilized the General Theory of Implementation framework.

Main Results:

• Multi-disciplinary teams were established but not fully embedded as coordinated lifestyle promotion resources.
• Implementation was challenged by differing views on resources, commitment, social norms, and roles among staff, patients, and team members.

Conclusions:

• Early identification and engagement of key stakeholders are crucial for successful implementation.
• The development phase significantly influenced implementation and embedding, offering insights into the General Theory of Implementation.