Evaluation of the Encouraging Better Practice in Aged Care (ebpac) Initiative Final Report

3PROJECT DELIVERY

3.1Project groupings

The EBPAC Program includes a diverse mix of projects, employing different methodologies designed to achieve a wide range of outcomes. From the documentation provided to the evaluation team at the outset, we categorised the projects according to their primary target audiences, i.e., clinical leadership (CL1 and CL2, community care (CC1 – CC6) and residential aged care (RC1 – RC3). These groupings are not mutually exclusive, for example, both clinical leadership projects involved residential aged care and community care. Also, the approach taken in the two clinical leadership projects is very similar to the approach taken in one of the residential aged care projects (RC3). Some projects focused on implementing changes in practices that will benefit consumers during the lifetime of the project (e.g. the CC5) whereas the focus in some projects was on developing resources which could be used by others at a later date to implement practice change (e.g. the CC6 and RC3 projects).

As the projects commenced the implementation phase we were able to provide greater clarity in terms of their common elements; this in turn lent itself to a slight reframing of the categories where their primary impacts and outcomes were aligned with the three levels of the evaluation framework (consumers, providers, system).

Therefore, in reporting on program delivery we have grouped the projects according to the ‘level’ of the CHSD Evaluation Framework that they primarily impacted on, as summarised in Figure .

Projects that primarily impacted on the system that included the development of models for training clinical leaders (CL1 and CL2) and facilitating organisational change (RC3 and CC6).

Projects that aimed to implement evidence-based practice in community care (CC1, CC2, CC3, CC4, CC5).

Projects that delivered nation-wide workshops to disseminate current evidence in the areas of palliative care and skin care (RC1 and RC2).

Figure Main focus of activity of EBPAC projects according to the CHSD evaluation framework

	Leadership and change projects				Community care projects					National roll-out projects
Evaluation Hierarchy	CL1	CL2	CC6	RC3	CC1	CC2	CC3	CC4	CC5	RC1	RC2
Level 1: Impacts on, and outcomes for Consumers	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO
Level2: Impacts on, and outcomes for Providers	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Level 3: Impacts on, and outcomes for the System	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES

Importantly, those projects that mainly focus on one or two levels were not limited to having an impact only at that level. For example, while the two national roll-out projects were designed to impact on providers and the system, it was expected that workshop participants would return to their residential aged care facilities and implement changes which would, in turn, benefit residents as well.