Understanding barriers and facilitators to implementation of consensus-based recommendations for the management of very old people in intensive care.

Background

Recent consensus-based recommendations on the management of people aged ≥80 years in intensive care units (ICUs) were developed to guide the management of quality care.

Objective

To understand perceived barriers and facilitators to consensus-based recommendations to support their implementation into multi-professional and disciplinary clinical practice.

Methods Analysis of comments made by an international multiprofessional group of intensive care, emergency and geriatric medicine specialists in the Delphi consensus on the management of people aged ≥80 years in ICUs. Barrier and facilitators were analysed using the Theoretical Domains Framework.

Results

Care statement comments were provided by 99 of the 124 (79.8%) participants completing the Delphi first round; primarily identifying barriers (239/258; 92.6%). Most participants identified limitations in the environmental context and resources within the healthcare system (152, 63.6%); predominantly limitations in resources/material resources, with staffing (60, 25.1%), and beds or facilities (30, 12.6%) concerns. Potentially modifiable domains focused on inadequate knowledge (25, 10.5%), beliefs about consequences (18, 7.5%), care goals (16, 6.7%) and social/professional role and identity (16, 6.7%). Facilitators focused on improving staff knowledge, particularly amongst geriatric medicine and intensive care medicine specialities, and environmental context and resources (both 8, 42.1%).

Conclusions

The environmental context and resources domain was the most common barrier identified. Behaviour change opportunities are centred on the domains knowledge, beliefs about consequences, goals and social/professional role and identity. Linked behaviour change techniques can be identified and developed according to local healthcare context to support implementation of care recommendations.