Perspectives on managing innovation readiness in long-term care: a Q-methodology study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Healthcare Management
• Innovation Studies

Background:

• Long-term care organizations face resource scarcity, necessitating innovation readiness for affordable elder care.
• Innovation readiness, a measure of organizational maturity for innovation, is crucial for successful implementation.
• Understanding stakeholder views on innovation readiness can inform strategies to enhance innovative capacities in long-term care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore stakeholder perspectives on critical factors for innovation readiness in long-term care organizations for older adults.
• To identify actionable strategies for enhancing the innovative capacities of long-term care providers.

Main Methods:

• Q-methodology, a mixed-methods approach, involving 30 stakeholders in Dutch long-term care.
• Stakeholders ranked 36 statements on innovation readiness importance, derived from literature and interviews.
• By-person factor analysis and post-interviews were used to interpret and describe stakeholder perspectives.

Main Results:

• Four distinct perspectives on innovation readiness were identified: supportive management, client/employee participation, setting direction, and structuring decision-making.
• The 36 statements comprehensively covered known innovation readiness factors, with no new factors emerging.
• Stakeholders acknowledged all innovation readiness factors but differed on their relative importance.

Conclusions:

• While stakeholders agree on the components of innovation readiness, there is no consensus on a single pathway to achieve it.
• A temporal order for innovation readiness factors is suggested, beginning with defining innovation ambition.
• Findings can inform the development of an assessment tool for managers to evaluate organizational innovation readiness.