Decreased prevalence of wounds following implementation of the Protecting Skin Integrity model

Purpose: Many older adults in acute and subacute health services suffer with loss of skin integrity, leading to chronic wounds and prolonged ill-health. This project investigated strategies to facilitate uptake of best practice in prevention and management of wounds by evaluating the implementation of the Protecting Skin Integrity program in a sample of Queensland Health acute, subacute, transition and aged care services. Methods: A pre/post implementation study was undertaken. The program was based on evidence-based strategies for knowledge translation, including ‘train-the-trainer’ workshops, goal setting, audit and feedback cycles and local education and clinical workshops. A multi-faceted evaluation was undertaken, including staff surveys, interviews, and patient skin integrity assessments prior to, and six months after, the implementation of the PSI model. Results: In comparison to the pre-surveys, analyses of the post patient skin surveys found significantly decreased point prevalence of wounds (e.g., pressure injuries decreased from 15% to 5%, skin tears from 24% to 13%); and increased uptake of evidence-based skin and wound management; in addition to significantly increased staff confidence in knowledge of evidence-based prevention, assessment and management of wounds. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that evidence-based strategies for knowledge translation are able to promote uptake of best practice and lead to decreased prevalence of wounds and improved staff confidence in wound management.