Kevin

Generally, sustainability refers to the ability of a project of intervention to be sustained. That is, for it to remain in motion after the initial implementation phase has occurred. In many cases, even when successfully implemented, interventions cease to be delivered after these initial phases and/or funding has passed. Obviously, this is concerning, especially when these interventions may be practice driven elements that can save lives. The sustainability of an intervention in healthcare is essential in maintaining the benefits and associated improvements that come along with it, as well as building confidence among organizational members to future interventional projects (Cowie et al., 2020).

Interventional projects often go through a robust planning phase, and commonly use tools such as logical models, change models, or other logical frameworks in order to align goals, objectives, and indicators. These are vital tools in the sustainability of a project as benchmarking points in these categories can depict trending information, as well as derive benchmarks of sustainability (Mortimer et al., 2018). By that same token, I feel that effective project evaluation is the hallmark of driving sustainability. Cyclical analysis of data, and real-time feedback is one method of promoting sustainability. This depicts ongoing success and can aid in rallying funds or internal and external support needed to keep driving the project. The second method, in my opinion, is building in sustainability and contingency plans for the same into the original methodology of project execution. This ensures that there are determined methods in place prepared to continue sustaining a project, and resources are identified to do so. In my project, I would utilize both of these methods in an effort to plan for, and execute a sustainable project. Prior planning, combined with ongoing analysis and generation of support will help to drive my project forward.

Reference:

Cowie, J., Nicoll, A., Dimova, E. D., Campbell, P., & Duncan, E. A. (2020). The barriers and facilitators influencing the sustainability of hospital-based interventions: a systematic review. BMC health services research, 20(1), 588. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-05434-9

Mortimer, F., Isherwood, J., Pearce, M., Kenward, C., & Vaux, E. (2018). Sustainability in quality improvement: measuring impact. Future healthcare journal, 5(2), 94–97. https://doi.org/10.7861/futurehosp.5-2-94