A scoping review of the use of quality improvement methods by community organizations in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada to improve health and well-being in community settings (NARRATIVE REVIEW)
Dublin Core
Title
A scoping review of the use of quality improvement methods by community organizations in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada to improve health and well-being in community settings (NARRATIVE REVIEW)
Subject
quality improvement, community health, capacity building, community capacity, health equity
Description
Background: Health-care facilities have used quality improvement (QI) methods extensively to improve quality of care. However, addressing
complex public health issues such as coronavirus disease 2019 and their underlying structural determinants requires community-level innovations
beyond health care. Building community organizations’ capacity to use QI methods is a promising approach to improving community health and
well-being.
Objectives: We explore how community health improvement has been defined in the literature, the extent to which community organizations
have knowledge and skill in QI and how communities have used QI to drive community-level improvements.
Methods: Per a published study protocol, we searched Scopus, Web of Science, and Proquest Health management for articles between
2000 and 2019 from USA, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. We included articles describing any QI intervention in a community setting to
improve community well-being. We screened, extracted, and synthesized data. We performed a quantitative tabulation and a thematic analysis
to summarize results.
Results: Thirty-two articles met inclusion criteria, with 31 set in the USA. QI approaches at the community level were the same as those used
in clinical settings, and many involved multifaceted interventions targeting chronic disease management or health promotion, especially among
minority and low-income communities. There was little discussion on how well these methods worked in community settings or whether they
required adaptations for use by community organizations. Moreover, decision-making authority over project design and implementation was
typically vested in organizations outside the community and did not contribute to strengthening the capability of community organizations to
undertake QI independently.
Conclusion: Most QI initiatives undertaken in communities are extensions of projects in health-care settings and are not led by community
residents. There is urgent need for additional research on whether community organizations can use these methods independently to tackle
complex public health problems that extend beyond health-care quality
complex public health issues such as coronavirus disease 2019 and their underlying structural determinants requires community-level innovations
beyond health care. Building community organizations’ capacity to use QI methods is a promising approach to improving community health and
well-being.
Objectives: We explore how community health improvement has been defined in the literature, the extent to which community organizations
have knowledge and skill in QI and how communities have used QI to drive community-level improvements.
Methods: Per a published study protocol, we searched Scopus, Web of Science, and Proquest Health management for articles between
2000 and 2019 from USA, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. We included articles describing any QI intervention in a community setting to
improve community well-being. We screened, extracted, and synthesized data. We performed a quantitative tabulation and a thematic analysis
to summarize results.
Results: Thirty-two articles met inclusion criteria, with 31 set in the USA. QI approaches at the community level were the same as those used
in clinical settings, and many involved multifaceted interventions targeting chronic disease management or health promotion, especially among
minority and low-income communities. There was little discussion on how well these methods worked in community settings or whether they
required adaptations for use by community organizations. Moreover, decision-making authority over project design and implementation was
typically vested in organizations outside the community and did not contribute to strengthening the capability of community organizations to
undertake QI independently.
Conclusion: Most QI initiatives undertaken in communities are extensions of projects in health-care settings and are not led by community
residents. There is urgent need for additional research on whether community organizations can use these methods independently to tackle
complex public health problems that extend beyond health-care quality
Creator
Mallory Turner, Tara Carr, Randall John, and Rohit Ramaswamy
Source
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/ijcoms/lyab019
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Date
21 April 2022
Contributor
Sri Wahyuni
Format
PDF
Language
English
Type
Text
Files
Collection
Citation
Mallory Turner, Tara Carr, Randall John, and Rohit Ramaswamy, “A scoping review of the use of quality improvement methods by community organizations in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada to improve health and well-being in community settings (NARRATIVE REVIEW),” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed February 21, 2026, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/11108.