Diabetes control program implementation: on the importance of staff involvement

Abstract

The Stockholm County Council adopted a diabetes control program in 1979. Eleven percent of the 94 PHC centers had fully implemented the program by 1983. In this study we have tried to analyse roadblocks to the implementation of the program. Twenty primary health care centers were studied through questionnaires to physicians and nurses in the centers. Ten of the centers had implemented the program and ten had not. The percentage of trained staff; work-load; and demografic factors were similar in the two groups. The two groups of centers differed significantly with regard to interaction among the staff and involvement in decision making. The results imply that the staff should be involved in the process of planning and organizing the routines needed, in order to facilitate the local implementation of a program in each unit.