The second step of change sits within the active change cycle and involves understanding the need for change. It’s part of the ‘Planning for Quality’ domain within a Quality Management System.
Why
It’s important to understand both the need for change and the context in which the change is happening. This will help you to achieve high quality, meaningful change.
What
To understand the need and context for change, engaging with the following groups is essential:
- Service users and their family or carers.
- The general public.
- Health and care professionals that are providing the service.
- Service enablers. This is groups that support or enable the service to happen. For example, those who work in administration, eHealth, estates or transport
It’s important to understand the opportunities, barriers and enablers of change and how the change affects the wider system.
How
Here are some examples of tools that support understanding the need for change.
- Process mapping helps you to visualise the flow of work. Head to Turas Learn for more information on process mapping.
- Journey mapping lets you record and share the experience of a person using the service. Head to HIS Community Engagement’s website to find out more about journey mapping.
- System mapping represents the elements of a system and how they are connected. Head to HIS Community Engagement’s website to find out more about system mapping.
- Focus groups are discussions between small groups of people who share experience or knowledge. Head to HIS Community Engagement’s website to find out more about focus groups.
- Patient diaries allow you to gather qualitative information about service users’ experiences. Head to HIS Community Engagement’s website to find out more about patient diaries.
- Five Whys identify underlying reasons for a problem by repeatedly asking the question “Why?”. Head to Turas Learn to find out more about the Five Whys.
- SWOT analysis: helps identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats surrounding a change.
Take a look at the taking a design approach to person-centred services toolkit on the Community Engagement website. This includes various other tools to support this step of the change cycle.