Leadership for health improvement – implementation and evaluation

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a co‐authored reflection on the health improvement leadership development programme and the key evaluation messages derived from piloting in an English National Health Service region. It highlights the specific attributes of this approach to health improvement leadership development and clarifies health improvement development issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Appreciative inquiry and soft systems methodology are combined in an evaluation approach designed to capture individual as well as organisation learning and how it impacts on leadership in specific contexts.

Findings

The evaluation exposes the health improvement leadership needs of a multi‐organisation cohort, offers some explanations for successful achievement of learning needs while also exposing of the challenges and paradoxes faced in this endeavour.

Originality/value

There are limited reported templates of how to develop leadership for health improvement. This paper details a whole systems approach, acknowledging the impact of context on leadership and an approach to evaluating such complex initiatives.

Citation

Carr, S.M., Lhussier, M., Reynolds, J., Hunter, D.J. and Hannaway, C. (2009), "Leadership for health improvement – implementation and evaluation", Journal of Health Organization and Management, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 200-215. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777260910960939