CPP Monograph

The main deliverable of the Changing Professional Practice project.

"Changing Professional Practice - Theory and Practice of Clinical Guidelines Implementation"

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Health care professionals may have difficulties in keeping up-to-date with the over-whelming and fast growing volume of new scientific evidence for good clinical practice. Often there is an unacceptable time lag between the time of having a valid research basis for a specific procedure and the point when the procedure has been adop-ted in practice. This may lead to suboptimal care.

Clinical guidelines are regarded as an appropriate vehicle for overcoming this. They can assist health care providers in grasping the new evidence and bring it into daily clinical routines. But the production and dissemination of clinical guidelines does not automatically improve clinical practice. For instance, some types of guidelines and some dissemination strategies seem more effective than others; the effectiveness can differ across settings; the providers’ willingness to use a guideline may depend on who produced it etc. There is a broad spectrum of circumstances that should be taken into account.

This book takes the reader through issues related to the introduction and use of clinical guidelines. In a multidisciplinary approach, it deals with concepts, methods, and theories relevant for studying the barriers and facilitators for the adoption of a guideline, the implementation process, the outcome, the costs etc.

Topics covered include:

• A framework for guidelines implementation studies
• Design and statistical issues in implementation research
• Economic evaluation
• Qualitative approaches and methods
• Identifying barriers and facilitators
• Planning and monitoring interventions
• Measuring attitudes towards clinical guidelines
• A review of studies on perceived barriers and facilitators to implementation

The book gives valuable information and tools for clinical guideline implementators and implementation researchers as well as for health policy decision-makers, purchasers, and providers.

Publisher: DSI-Danish Institute for Health Services Research and Development
DSI report 99.05
Editors: Thorkil Thorsen & Marjukka Mäkelä
Pages: 218 pages

Order for the book

Orders for the book to DSI - Danish Institute for Health Services and Development, P.O. Box 2595, Dampfaergevej 22, DK- 2100 Copenhagen, Tel.: + 45 35 29 84 00, Fax.: + 45 35 29 84 99. Price of the book is 200 DKK incl. VAT but excl. postage charge.