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R11. The Impact of Stroke Practice Guidelines on Knowledge and Practice Patterns of Acute Care Health Professionals
Rationale: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Post-Stroke Rehabilitation Guidelines were developed to improve the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness of rehabilitation practices. An important goal of the guidelines process is to disseminate information to practitioners in order to encourage adoption of effective practices. To date, no systematic evaluation of these guidelines has been completed, nor has a program been designed to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational program about the guidelines.
Objectives: Evaluate changes in knowledge and practice following presentation of a lecture-based, educational program about Post-Stroke Rehabilitation Guidelines.
Research Design: Single group, pre-test - post-test design without a comparison group.
Measures: Knowledge and referral practices questionnaire developed specifically for this study.
Results: Lecture attendance was not associated with an increase in knowledge or referrals. However, we found that respondents who made more referrals at follow-up had a higher knowledge level at pre-test. Also, those who completed a follow-up assessment knew more about the guidelines at the initial assessment than did those who did not complete the follow-up assessment. In addition, physicians knew more about stroke rehabilitation than the nonphysicians both at the pre-test and follow-up.
Conclusions:Encouraging behavior change among physicians and allied health professionals in referrals and clinical practice is a complicated process. Providing individual follow-up and lengthier contacts, assuring that care providers receive high quality evidence that guidelines improve care, and consulting with key-decision makers about guideline implementation might enhance behavior change.
Publications:Heinemann, A. W., Roth, E. J., Rychlik, K., Pe, K., & Clumpner, J. The Impact of Stroke Practice Guidelines on Knowledge and Practice Patterns of Acute Care Health Professionals. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. Accepted for publication.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality