Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of Injury Prevention Programs: A Qualitative Exploration and Model...

Area of Science:

• Trauma care and injury prevention.
• Health services research.
• Program implementation science.

Background:

• The American College of Surgeons mandated injury prevention programs for trauma center designation in 2006.
• Factors influencing the implementation of evidence-based injury prevention programs in trauma centers are not well understood.
• This study aims to explore these factors and develop a conceptual model.

Purpose of the Study:

• To generate hypotheses about the processes of implementing injury prevention programs in trauma centers.
• To identify facilitators and barriers to evidence-based injury prevention program implementation.
• To develop a model of these factors and their relationships.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving phone interviews with personnel from 24 diverse US trauma centers.
• Interviews guided by a framework developed from pilot testing.
• Analysis of eight transcribed interviews using member checking for coding and theme identification.

Main Results:

• Five emergent themes: external factors, internal organizational factors, program capacity, program selection, and program success.
• Successful implementation linked to supportive leadership and interdepartmental collaboration.
• Barriers included motivation by verification, lack of institutional leadership, limited employee training, and program selection based on ease rather than evidence.

Conclusions:

• Identified five key themes influencing injury prevention program implementation in trauma centers.
• Proposed an initial model of barriers and facilitators for implementing evidence-based programs.
• Highlighted the need for further research with larger samples to refine the model.