Abstract
BackgroundOne way to facilitate the translation of research into the occupational health service practice is through clinical practice guidelines. To increase the implementability of guidelines it is important to include the end-users in the development, for example by a community of practice approach. This paper describes the development of an occupational health practice guideline aimed at the management of non-specific low back pain (LBP) by using a community of practice approach. The paper also includes a process evaluation of the development providing insight into the feasibility of the process.MethodsA multidisciplinary community of practice group (n = 16) consisting of occupational nurses, occupational physicians, ergonomists/physical therapists, health and safety engineers, health educators, psychologists and researchers from different types of occupational health services and geographical regions within Sweden met eleven times (June 2012–December 2013) to develop the practice guideline following recommendations of guideline development handbooks. Process-outcomes recruitment, reach, context, satisfaction, feasibility and fidelity were assessed by questionnaire, observations and administrative data.ResultsGroup members attended on average 7.5 out of 11 meetings. Half experienced support from their workplace for their involvement. Feasibility was rated as good, except for time-scheduling. Most group members were satisfied with the structure of the process (e.g. presentations, multidisciplinary group). Fidelity was rated as fairly high.ConclusionsThe described development process is a feasible process for guideline development. For future guideline development expectations of the work involved should be more clearly communicated, as well as the purpose and tasks of the CoP-group. Moreover, possibilities to improve support from managers and colleagues should be explored. This paper has important implications for future guideline development; it provides valuable information on how practitioners can be included in the development process, with the aim of increasing the implementability of the developed guidelines.
Highlights
Introduction roundPowerPoint presentation by group chair on the goal of the project and program, and on evidence-based practicePairwise and group-discussion on Occupational Health Services (OHS) tasks and evidence-based practice within OHSDiscuss group aims, norms of behavior and practicalitiesTask for meeting Describe expectations and prerequisites of participationMeeting 2 (2012-09-11) Implementation expert gives PowerPoint presentation on implementation research, including concepts and theoriesPresent a summary of expectations and prerequisites of participantsPairwise and group-discussion on topic selection for the guidelineTask for meeting Make an inventory of methods used within the own OHS, discuss what is needed within the OHSPhase 1: Preparing for guideline development Meeting 3 (2012-12-12) PowerPoint presentation of back pain and diagnostics by external1.2
The recruitment was based on purposive sampling in which a selected group of 130 occupational health (OH) professionals with the identified occupations were sent an email describing the plans to set up a communities of practice (CoP) responsible for the development of an OH practice guideline
This paper describes the development of an OH practice guideline for the management of non-specific low back pain (LBP) by including the end-users in the process and includes a process evaluation of the development process
Summary
Introduction roundPowerPoint presentation by group chair on the goal of the project and program, and on evidence-based practicePairwise and group-discussion on OHS tasks and evidence-based practice within OHSDiscuss group aims, norms of behavior and practicalitiesTask for meeting Describe expectations and prerequisites of participationMeeting 2 (2012-09-11) Implementation expert gives PowerPoint presentation on implementation research, including concepts and theoriesPresent a summary of expectations and prerequisites of participantsPairwise and group-discussion on topic selection for the guidelineTask for meeting Make an inventory of methods used within the own OHS, discuss what is needed within the OHSPhase 1: Preparing for guideline development Meeting 3 (2012-12-12) PowerPoint presentation of back pain and diagnostics by external1.2. Pairwise and group-discussion on OHS tasks and evidence-based practice within OHS. This paper describes the development of an occupational health practice guideline aimed at the management of non-specific low back pain (LBP) by using a community of practice approach. The OHS main assignment is to support employers and employees with work related health issues [5] This includes a diversity of tasks such as counselling workers with non-specific LBP and assisting them to continue working or to return to work after sick leave [6]. Inspired by the Netherlands Society of Evidencebased Medicine’s practice guidelines in occupational health (OH) [8] one of the approaches within the programme is to develop practice guidelines to assist OHS professionals’ decisions about appropriate work related assessments and interventions
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