Manual for quality assurance of health services
Quality improvement (QI) measures are designed to improve health services. The problem however, is that most strategies remain theoretical and do not alter professional practice or improve patient care. In order for this to change, the ReBEQI project set forth to narrow the gap between research and practice by designing a research-based approach to QI. The way the ReBEQI project went about this was by using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as the foundation for a practical manual. TPB is based on a psychological model of behaviour change. The manual arose from a request from health services researchers wanting to understand behaviour. This provides support in creating healthcare interventions. It can also help researchers or health workers involved in quality assurance to create a questionnaire for assessing the attitudes and beliefs inherent in health-related behaviour. Furthermore, responses from the questionnaires can be utilised in planning the development of interventions. The manual has been used in a broad array of reviewing and testing procedures. Specifically, it has been tested in the UK and the Netherlands for examining management of diabetes in support of designing methods to prioritise and choose intervention elements.
