Learning collaboratives, “a structured way for organizations with common interests to close the gap between potential and practice by learning from each other,” are recommended in the U.S. National Health Security Strategy as a method of developing and implementing quality improvement tools in public health emergency preparedness, according to the study.
Researchers evaluated the impact of learning collaboratives on PHEP by creating two learning collaboratives, one focused on emergency communications and one on Medical Reserve Corps volunteers in flu clinics. The emergency communications and MRC collaboratives first met in May 2010 and June 2010, respectively, and conducted a series of learning sessions and “rapid cycle” action periods.
The researchers solicited feedback from participants in the spring of 2011. While participants reported that they believed the improvement projects were useful, there were also several barriers, including low participation and weak leadership buy-in.
The authors concluded that these barriers suggest learning collaboratives may not be the most effective method of improving emergency preparedness.
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