Recommendations for the communication of quality indicators data in long-term care: A rapid review protocol
Creators: name: Poncin, Emmanuelle
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: quality indicators, health care
communication
quality of health care
long-term care
systematic review
benchmarking
aged

description: Abstract 
Background 
Since the mid-19th century, the work of Florence Nightingale has placed improving care quality at the heart of the nursing profession. Over a century later, quality indicators have been developed and used as a care quality improvement strategy in long-term care and other healthcare settings in high- and middle-income countries. In the literature, quality indicators are presented as key factors for assessing the quality of care, identifying areas to improve, and fostering care improvement initiatives. For quality indicators to effectively work as care improvement tools, data needs to be understandable and actionable, which points to the importance of the communication of quality indicators data. Yet, to date, no review has systematically examined how to communicate quality indicators data to foster correct understanding and care quality improvement in long-term care.
Objectives 
Our rapid review aims to develop recommendations for the communication of care quality indicators data in long-term care for older people. More specifically, it will examine: 

which data presentation or reporting formats or features support correct understanding of quality indicators data by healthcare professionals and managers in long-term care facilities for older people, policymakers, potential care users, and their relatives; and
which communication features or strategies may support healthcare professionals and managers in long-term care facilities for older people in utilising quality indicators data to foster care quality improvement.
Methods  
We will conduct a rapid review of the literature, based on guidance from the Cochrane Rapid Review Methods Group. We will search Medline (Ovid), Embase, and APA PsycInfo for published studies on the communication of quality indicators in long-term care for older people. Two independent reviewers will screen titles and abstracts then full texts of selected articles, using inclusion criteria based on a Participants-Interventions-Outcomes framework. A descriptive narrative summary will present our main findings in the form of recommendations. 
Discussion 
Our review will present recommendations on how to communicate quality indicators data in a clear and comprehensible manner, and in ways that foster care quality improvement. Its findings will be relevant to a wide audience interested in understanding and improving care quality through the development and use of quality indicators. 
Funding 
This work is conducted and funded as part of the National Implementation Programme –Strengthening quality of care in partnership with residential long-term care facilities for older people 2022–2026 (NIP-Q-UPGRADE), commissioned by the Swiss Federal Quality Commission (FQC) to ARTISET with the industry association CURAVIVA and senesuisse. It is implemented in collaboration with the Institut für Pflegewissenschaft (INS), Universität Basel, Institut et Haute Ecole de la Santé La Source (La Source), Lausanne, and Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana (SUPSI), Manno, all located in Switzerland.