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Effectiveness of a multifaceted implementation strategy for improving adherence to the guideline for prevention of mental ill-health among school personnel in Sweden : a cluster randomized trial

Toropova, Anna ; Björklund, Christina ; Bergström, Gunnar ; Elinder, Liselotte Schäfer ; Stigmar, Kjerstin LU ; Wåhlin, Charlotte ; Jensen, Irene and Kwak, Lydia (2022) In Implementation Science 17(1).
Abstract

Background: There is limited research on prevention of mental ill-health of school personnel and the systematic management of school work environments. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of implementing the guideline recommendations for the prevention of mental ill-health in schools, in particular, whether there was a difference in adherence to guideline recommendations between a multifaceted (group 1) and single implementation strategy (group 2) from baseline to 6 and to 12 months. Method: We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial with a 6- and 12-month follow-up. Data was collected from nearly 700 participants in 19 Swedish schools. Participants were school personnel working under the management of a school... (More)

Background: There is limited research on prevention of mental ill-health of school personnel and the systematic management of school work environments. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of implementing the guideline recommendations for the prevention of mental ill-health in schools, in particular, whether there was a difference in adherence to guideline recommendations between a multifaceted (group 1) and single implementation strategy (group 2) from baseline to 6 and to 12 months. Method: We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial with a 6- and 12-month follow-up. Data was collected from nearly 700 participants in 19 Swedish schools. Participants were school personnel working under the management of a school principal. The single implementation strategy consisted of one educational meeting, while the multifaceted implementation strategy comprised an educational meeting, an ongoing training in the form of workshops, implementation teams and Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles. Adherence was measured with a self-reported questionnaire. Generalized Linear Mixed Models were used to assess the difference between groups in adherence to the guideline between baseline, 6-, and 12-months follow-up. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in improvements in adherence to the guideline between baseline, 6-, and 12-months follow-up. However, among those schools that did not undergo any organizational changes during the 12 months of the study significant differences between groups were observed at 12 months for one of the indicators. Conclusions: The multifaceted strategy was no more effective than the single strategy in improving guideline adherence. There are some limitations to the study, such as the measurement of the implementation outcome measure of adherence. The outcome measure was developed in a systematic manner by the research team, assessing specific target behaviors relevant to the guideline recommendations, however not psychometrically tested, which warrants a careful interpretation of the results. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, 150571. Registered 12 September 2017.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Adherence to guideline recommendations, Implementation strategy, Mental health, Randomized controlled trial, Schools
in
Implementation Science
volume
17
issue
1
article number
23
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85126204118
  • pmid:35279176
ISSN
1748-5908
DOI
10.1186/s13012-022-01196-6
project
ISkol- implementation of mental health guidelines in schools
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6aefd5de-e585-4409-b58b-c73285ab7693
date added to LUP
2022-06-08 09:57:59
date last changed
2024-06-13 13:52:31
@article{6aefd5de-e585-4409-b58b-c73285ab7693,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: There is limited research on prevention of mental ill-health of school personnel and the systematic management of school work environments. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of implementing the guideline recommendations for the prevention of mental ill-health in schools, in particular, whether there was a difference in adherence to guideline recommendations between a multifaceted (group 1) and single implementation strategy (group 2) from baseline to 6 and to 12 months. Method: We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial with a 6- and 12-month follow-up. Data was collected from nearly 700 participants in 19 Swedish schools. Participants were school personnel working under the management of a school principal. The single implementation strategy consisted of one educational meeting, while the multifaceted implementation strategy comprised an educational meeting, an ongoing training in the form of workshops, implementation teams and Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles. Adherence was measured with a self-reported questionnaire. Generalized Linear Mixed Models were used to assess the difference between groups in adherence to the guideline between baseline, 6-, and 12-months follow-up. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in improvements in adherence to the guideline between baseline, 6-, and 12-months follow-up. However, among those schools that did not undergo any organizational changes during the 12 months of the study significant differences between groups were observed at 12 months for one of the indicators. Conclusions: The multifaceted strategy was no more effective than the single strategy in improving guideline adherence. There are some limitations to the study, such as the measurement of the implementation outcome measure of adherence. The outcome measure was developed in a systematic manner by the research team, assessing specific target behaviors relevant to the guideline recommendations, however not psychometrically tested, which warrants a careful interpretation of the results. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, 150571. Registered 12 September 2017.</p>}},
  author       = {{Toropova, Anna and Björklund, Christina and Bergström, Gunnar and Elinder, Liselotte Schäfer and Stigmar, Kjerstin and Wåhlin, Charlotte and Jensen, Irene and Kwak, Lydia}},
  issn         = {{1748-5908}},
  keywords     = {{Adherence to guideline recommendations; Implementation strategy; Mental health; Randomized controlled trial; Schools}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{Implementation Science}},
  title        = {{Effectiveness of a multifaceted implementation strategy for improving adherence to the guideline for prevention of mental ill-health among school personnel in Sweden : a cluster randomized trial}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13012-022-01196-6}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s13012-022-01196-6}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}