Kristian Gjessings research

Students as change agents

Background
At Linköping University, students of the health professions are taught the basics of quality improvement in health care, described as improved medical, economic and logistical performance. As part of their multi-professional training, the students conduct a clinical improvement project, either at a hospital clinic or in primary care. As this approach is fairly new, we don’t know how it affects health care staff.

Aim
We aimed to find out whether GPs’ and district nurses’ attitudes towards quality improvement in primary health care were affected by the students’ improvement projects.

Methods
Initially a qualitative study to identify key attitude elements to quality improvement amongst general practitioners and district nurses at selected primary health care centres in Sweden. We will then survey larger groups of Swedish GPs and District Nurses, to quantify their readiness to change, using a survey form. A third quantitative/quantitative study to characterize the students’ projects and their perception of the attitudes they have met during their projects, using a web-based form with quantifying and free-text questions. Finally, a post-intervention study will assess attitudes of GPs and DNs, after these improvement projects have been going on for a few years. This will also include a comparison of attitudes before and after, with and without students.

Expected findings
The studies will indicate whether there is an attitude slide, and whether the student projects influence the attitudes surrounding them in primary care, and whether students as such may function as change agents / brokers between undergraduate education and clinical practice.

Supervisor:   Tomas Faresjö