Implementing Effective Infection Prevention and Control in Residential Aged Care Through Communities of Practice: Protocol for a Before-and-After Study (IMMERSE-2).

Authors

Joanne Tropea, Sanne Peters, Robyn Ann Smith, Lyn-Li Lim, Lidia Engel, Michael J Malloy, Luke Wolfenden, Irene Blackberry, Jacqueline Francis-Coad, Wen Kwang Lim, Deirdre Fetherstonhaugh, Judy McCahon, Jacquelin McDonald, Carrie Spinks, Christopher Etherton-Beer, Chelsea Velona, Carole A Estabrooks, Noleen Bennett

Published in

JMIR research protocols. Volume 15. Pages e97683. Nov 06, 2026. Epub Nov 06, 2026.

Abstract

In Australian residential aged care, infection prevention and control (IPC) Lead nurses (IPC Leads) are a key part of the IPC program. IPC Leads are often the main IPC contacts and provide support to staff to improve IPC and resident outcomes. To enhance their competence and self-efficacy, IPC Leads need to engage in ongoing role development. Connecting with other IPC Leads, learning together, and sharing ideas and resources could also be beneficial. Communities of practice (CoPs) have been shown to improve self-efficacy and job satisfaction by fostering belonging, peer learning, and problem-solving. Drawing on social learning theory, CoPs encourage learning with and from one another to explore and iteratively develop practice. This study draws on the CoP literature and builds on our previous pilot of a CoP for IPC Leads in 1 state of Australia, which found promising impacts on confidence and practice change.
This study will evaluate CoPs for IPC Leads working in Australian residential aged care. Primarily, the study will assess changes in IPC Leads' self-efficacy. It will also explore job satisfaction and IPC practice improvement and assess the acceptability and feasibility of CoPs.
We are conducting a before-and-after study using multimethods. We will recruit IPC Leads from across Australia to participate in the CoPs. The CoPs will be implemented over 12 months, with online sessions held monthly for 30 to 60 minutes each. Baseline and 12-month follow-up surveys of IPC Leads' self-efficacy and job satisfaction and audits of IPC practice will be conducted. At the 12-month follow-up, surveys and interviews with IPC Leads will be used to assess the acceptability and feasibility of the CoPs and to explore case examples of IPC Leads facilitating practice change. Researcher notes and costing data collected will be used to further evaluate the feasibility and fidelity of the CoPs. Quantitative data will be summarized descriptively, and an ordinal mixed-effects model with a logit link will be used to assess change in self-efficacy. Interview data will be analyzed using an inductive approach, followed by a deductive approach, based on the Framework Method.
This project was funded in October 2024 and commenced in February 2025. As of April 30, 2026, 97 potential participants had registered their interest in participating, but no participants had been enrolled (ie, consented to participate). Recruitment of IPC Leads began in March 2026. The CoPs are expected to commence in June to July 2026. Data collection will commence in May 2026, and data analysis is expected to be completed by January 2028. Study results are expected to be published in 2028.
The findings will create new research knowledge in the field of CoPs and knowledge translation in the aged care sector and inform the sustainability and potential for future scale-up of this collaborative social learning approach.

PMID:
42993870
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Nov 2026.

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