title: Leadership for health improvement--implementation and evaluation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this paper is to present a co-authored reflection on the health improvement leadership development programme and the key evaluation messages derived from piloting in an English National Health Service region. It highlights the specific attributes of this approach to health improvement leadership development and clarifies health improvement development issues.
  
  
  METHODS
  Appreciative inquiry and soft systems methodology are combined in an evaluation approach designed to capture individual as well as organisation learning and how it impacts on leadership in specific contexts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The evaluation exposes the health improvement leadership needs of a multi-organisation cohort, offers some explanations for successful achievement of learning needs while also exposing of the challenges and paradoxes faced in this endeavour.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are limited reported templates of how to develop leadership for health improvement. This paper details a whole systems approach, acknowledging the impact of context on leadership and an approach to evaluating such complex initiatives.
authors.affiliation: Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. sue.carr@northumbria.ac.uk
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lhussier
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hannaway
mesh_terms: D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D006296:Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D006298:Health Services Administration; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D016730:Program Development; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D013222:State Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006113:United Kingdom