Project Plan
The Ace Star Model of Knowledge Transformation will be used to help guide the planned change process. The ACE Star Model will describe the project and help recognize the process of knowledge discovery and transformation (Stevens, 2012). This model focuses on knowledge transformation for organizational or individual use, but this DNP project will base on organizational change.
The ACE Star Model addresses factors that influence adoption of innovation and composed of five major stages. The first step in the ACE Star Model is discovery – search for knowledge. The second step is evidence summary - conduction a rigorous systematic review process of multiple studies to formulate a statement of evidence (Stevens, 2013). The third step is translation – creating a practice tool that guides practice. The fourth step is integration – implement practice change. The fifth step is evaluation – assessing the impact of the EBP practice change on quality improvement in health care (Schaffer, Sandau & Diedrick, 2013).
Resources for the DNP project will include project’s mentor, preceptor, project‘s participants (4 internal medicine providers), supplies/expenses for the toolkit, Accountant/CPA to assist with data collection, gas to go from meeting mentor/preceptor/ practicum site.
Search for knowledge
In the development of an intervention plan at any level, say individual level, family levels or the community level, there has to be sufficient data and evidence to suggest the need for change, The ACE Star Model calls for the need to gather data that identifies the particular problem and defines its features (Schaffer, Sandau & Diedrick, 2013). Once these features are gathered, then it is possible to navigate the other stages of problem solving. For the African American women, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that there the lack of exercise and physical activity as health promotion strategies, as well as the poor nutrition habits are the key problems affecting this population and influencing the high rates of diabetes in this group (Maureen Clement, Amir Hanna, Diana Sherifali & Jean-François Yale, 2013). On a specific aspect, the use of meals that are deficient of Vitamin E as well as insufficient Vitamin D have been noted as the key issues that have applied a lead role in the current state of health within the African American women (Murrock, Taylor & Marino, 2013).
Evidence summary
This is the second phase of the ACE Star Model and it focuses on understanding the provided information in such a manner that it helps define the specific issue that should be addressed. Now that there is data, this data has to point out to a logical, reasonable and practical aspect (Schaffer, Sandau & Diedrick, 2013). In this case therefore, within the African American women population, we can narrow down to the determination that there is a knowledge gap within this population on the health issues and particularly on sustaining healthy lifestyle through behavioral and lifestyle modification (Varble, 2015). We therefore identify that in this particular case if this knowledge gap is managed then there can be a solution and the current data that points to high prevalence of diabetes can be minimized or managed to reasonable figures.
Translation:
In this case, this phase of the ACE Star Model defines the need for relevant and useful package of evidence that is logically developed to reflect the costs, time and care standards. This implies seeking a meaning to the data in the evidence summary and the abstract idea or question developed in the previous step to actualize the solution (Schaffer, Sandau & Diedrick, 2013). In the African American women population, we have identified that a knowledge gap on health issues exists. In this phase we have to identify the key stakeholders who can develop a teaching plan; a health promotion and health education program that will be tailored to the needs of this population. The focus will be on determining the requirements for this program which include the provision of brochures and booklets with food charts that can be easily translated by this group (Llasus, Angosta & Clark, 2014). There will also be a need to determine whether the target group will require any material incentives to participate in this health education and health promotion program and a further need to determine how these costs will be catered for. In this case the target is to provide the program to the willing members of the community and there will be no incentives for participation (Varble, 2015). The costs for the brochures will be catered for by the project owner (I) and the teaching and education will be carried out by volunteers whom I shall approach within the friends circle. Further, to ensure the convenience of the learners and the health educators the sessions will be carried out over the weekends preferably on Saturdays as well as Sunday afternoons. These will ensure the convenience of the health educators and the participants.
Implementation
The health educators will utilize focus groups to discuss the areas of concern and provision of teaching materials such as the brochures and booklets. This is the most important step and it is here that the project owner integrates the target group into the solution. The idea is to utilize all formal and informal methods to help resolve the problem (Stevens, 2013). In our case, covering the knowledge gap implies teaching the women in the African American group matters that relate to health living, diabetes prevention and management and the extent of the complications resulting from diabetes (Varble, 2015).
Evaluation
In this phase, as the owner of the initiative it is important to recognize how well the project has benefited the target population. This will help determine whether the program is effective as it is or it would require some modification. To determine its success or failure rate the idea is to use questionnaires for the participants; each participant will be provided with a questionnaire at the start of the project in which they will be required to respond to various issues on health and healthy living (Llasus, Angosta & Clark, 2014). The same questionnaire will be provided at the end of the program and the participants will be required to respond, a comparison of the responses on the two occasions; baseline and the completion, will ultimately indicate whether the participants’ knowledge has increased over the course of the program (Stevens, 2013).
Barriers and facilitators
While the project is a noble idea that seeks to impact the lives of a population whose health is under threat, there are due to be barriers that will hinder the accomplishment of these goals. On one hand is the role of the other social entities and groups that have vested interest on the same issue but with commercial benefits. These groups mainly under the cover of community agencies for health may feel that this initiative is seeking to overrun their business idea and therefore could sabotage our operations (Schaffer, Sandau & Diedrick, 2013). Secondly the community may fail to appreciate the role of this initiative or even so find no meaning in the activities of the group. This could mean that the vital stakeholders hold no interest and therefore the project may not even kickoff or gain popularity within the community. Further, the financial capability of sustaining the program in the long term especially with increasing participants and the need for more health educators could be too much to bear in the long run as a lone entity (Stevens, 2013). However, on the positive note, the target is to partner with the faith-based groups who will help share the costs of implementation of the program as well as provide the necessary marketing platform for the program. Another positive aspect for the program is the idea that once integrated, the community will take ownership and the my role as the founder will be limited to monitoring and evaluation as the health educators will be replaced by the peer educators from within the community (Llasus, Angosta & Clark, 2014).
Role of the project manager and the leadership skills required
As the project manager, my role is to partner with the key groups that can facilitate the implementation of this project. The target is the faith-based groups and those health community agencies who we may share a common ideology on matters pertaining to community health. I will also be responsible for developing the schedules and the curriculum to reflect the identified needs of the community and to be adopted in the education and training sessions. I will also seek resources to support the program and if possible talk to willing partners who can help financially in the short term and midterm (Schaffer, Sandau & Diedrick, 2013).
References
Llasus, L., Angosta, A. D., & Clark, M. (2014). Graduating baccalaureate students’ evidence-based practice knowledge, readiness, and implementation. Journal of Nursing Education.
Maureen Clement, M. D., Amir Hanna, M. B., Diana Sherifali, R. N., & Jean-François Yale, M. D. (2013). Pharmacologic management of type 2 diabetes.
Murrock, C. J., Taylor, E., & Marino, D. (2013). Dietary challenges of managing type 2 diabetes in African-American women. Women & health,53(2), 173-184.
Schaffer, M. A., Sandau, K. E., & Diedrick, L. (2013). Evidence‐based practice models for organizational change: overview and practical applications. Journal of advanced nursing, 69(5), 1197-1209.
Stevens, K. (2013). The impact of evidence-based practice in nursing and the next big ideas. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 18(2).
Varble, A. (2015). Diabetes Self-Management Education and Self-Care Behaviors. In 2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo (Oct. 31-Nov. 4, 2015). APHA.
