title: What Is Best for Esther? Building Improvement Coaching Capacity With and for Users in Health and Social Care--A Case Study.
abstract: While coaching and customer involvement can enhance the improvement of health and social care, many organizations struggle to develop their improvement capability; it is unclear how best to accomplish this. We examined one attempt at training improvement coaches. The program, set in the Esther Network for integrated care in rural Jönköping County, Sweden, included eight 1-day sessions spanning 7 months in 2011. A senior citizen joined the faculty in all training sessions. Aiming to discern which elements in the program were essential for assuming the role of improvement coach, we used a case-study design with a qualitative approach. Our focus group interviews included 17 informants: 11 coaches, 3 faculty members, and 3 senior citizens. We performed manifest content analysis of the interview data. Creating will, ideas, execution, and sustainability emerged as crucial elements. These elements were promoted by customer focus--embodied by the senior citizen trainer--shared values and a solution-focused approach, by the supportive coach network and by participants' expanded systems understanding. These elements emerged as more important than specific improvement tools and are worth considering also elsewhere when seeking to develop improvement capability in health and social care organizations.
authors.affiliation: The Jönköping Academy for Improvement of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden (Ms Vackerberg and Dr Thor); and Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Division of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden (Dr Levander).
authors.forename: Nicoline
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vackerberg
authors.forename: Märta Sund
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Levander
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thor
mesh_terms: D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D000071252:Mentoring / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009042:Motivation; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D015397:Program Evaluation; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012947:Social Work / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D013548:Sweden