Research translation to improve carer smoking cessation support in a paediatric ward of a regional hospital in the Northern Territory

Abstract

Issue addressed: Health professionals have described barriers to providing carer smoking cessation support in children's wards. This article reports the findings of a research translation process that explored opportunities and developed pathways for change.

Methods: A facilitated discussion workshop and scheduled stakeholder meetings were used to evaluate research evidence and translate it to an evidence-informed organisational change process, with actions for implementation. Workshop and meeting participants were senior health staff with either a pharmacist, personnel with expertise in alcohol and other drugs, medical or nursing backgrounds, and who held senior managerial roles who worked in a hospital in the Northern Territory. A qualitative approach was used. The data from the workshop were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The first author took notes for meetings that were not recorded and analysed these alongside the transcripts.

Results: The process was able to initiate change to overcome barriers to providing carer smoking cessation support. All participants agreed to prioritise and make carer smoking cessation everybody's responsibility and supported a systematic approach, including provision of nicotine replacement therapy, new record-keeping systems, and training to address staff knowledge deficits and skills gaps. This movement to solution-focused change continued after the workshop.

Conclusions: With some preparation, a research translation workshop and meetings with selected leaders can initiate organisational change in similar settings and is consistent with theories of planned change. SO WHAT?: This article describes the use of a process to support health promotion through new policies and practices following research which identified barriers in a hospital ward.

Keywords: child*; health promotion; knowledge translation; smoking cessation.