Work package 5, led by Professor Lauren Clack, is all about implementation. 

We were fortunate to spend time with three of the driving forces behind this busy team: Dr Bianca Albers, Ms Kathrin Blum, and Ms Laura Caci.

This work package plays a pivotal role in the REVERSE project. The team is working to understand contextual barriers and facilitators for implementing antibiotic stewardship (ABS) and infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. They recently achieved the substantial milestone of completing all IPC and ABS site visits!

Alongside members of the IPC and ABS teams, they provide regular workshops for REVERSE hospital staff to guide their tailoring of IPC and ABS implementation strategies and produce tools for implementing these strategies in different clinical environments. 

Different Backgrounds

The team brings a mix of knowledge and experience to REVERSE. Bianca Albers has a background in political science and worked with evidence-based practise in government and non-government organisations in Denmark before learning about implementation science for the first time in 2005. The discipline resonated with her immediately, leading her to undertake her PhD in implementation science in child and family services in Melbourne, Australia. From here, it was only a short route to her current Postdoc position in REVERSE.

Laura Caci is a trained psychologist and completed her Masters degree at the University of Basel. Having graduated in 2021, Laura found a position at the University of Zurich in a new research group formed by Professor Lauren Clack. Since Day 1, she has been mostly dedicated to the REVERSE project and is now in the fourth year of her doctoral studies. She is studying organisational readiness for change and the preparedness of hospital sites to implement IPC. Her work adds an analytical stream focusing on conducting Coincidence Analysis. This novel method required Laura to travel to Norway and the United States to learn this method - something she is now qualified to teach! Keep your eyes open for her REVERSE publication on the subject!

Kathrin Blum is a psychologist with a background in Information Technology. Kathrin is also dedicated full-time to the REVERSE project and, in the PhD, focuses on exploring the depths of "tailoring" a specific approach to implementation. As part of this work, she is currently conducting a systematic review together with her team and had the pleasure of presenting first insights at a recent implementation science conference in Denver. 

Current WP5 Activities

This tight-knit team works very closely together. They performed the contextual analysis and data collection as one and are now moving into the data analysis and development of the implementation tools. While they work exceptionally well as a team, these dedicated scientists also have their own individual responsibilities. 

The whole team continues to be busy with data collection, which will last until 2025, while also taking the first deep dives into data analysis. 

Implementation Team (L to R): Bianca Albers, Kathrin Blum, Laura Caci, and Lauren Clack.

Impact of REVERSE

We asked the team what they felt would be the impact of their work within the REVERSE project. They shared that they can see first changes in hospitals. They observed that REVERSE often serves as a catalyst for paying more attention to implementation and promoting changes needed to strengthen IPC and ABS locally - such as improving electronic healthcare systems or establishing routines for observing hand hygiene. 

Simultaneously, hospitals are building local capacity, showing in:

• Increased numbers of ward champions;
• IPC and ABS interventions being implemented in a more planned and systematic way; and
• Broader stakeholder engagement. 

 

Dr Albers says: "If we can contribute to the sites paying more attention to implementation and thinking about implementation as something that requires intention and purpose, then this is a big win!"

Life Outside REVERSE

With such full and hectic schedules, we asked the team how they relax and what they get up to when not working.

When not behind her computer, Kathrin enjoys being outdoors hiking. The same is the case for Laura, who enjoys sailing and hiking and also has a passion for food.

Bianca is a very busy lady. She is working hard to help prepare the 2025 European Implementation Event and also serves as Co-Editor in Chief of the journal of Implementation Research and Practise. Wen she has some downtime, Bianca likes to read and go for long walks.