When the Task is Accomplished, Can We Say We Did it Ourselves?

Publication Date:

Publisher:

Author(s): A. Singhal; K. Greiner

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Abstract:

This report candidly presents the process and outcomes experienced by the Veterans Health Administration's Hospitals in Pittsburgh (VAPHS) to eliminate Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). VAPHS, working with the Plexus Institute, sought to reduce MRSA rates using the principles of positive deviance (PD), an approach to social and organizational change that enables communities to discover the wisdom they already have from the bottom up, and then to act on it. Authors Arvind Singhal and Karen Greiner illustrate how frontline staff generated their own ideas for preventing and controlling MRSA and enabled new approaches to be adopted throughout the institution. With a grant from RWJF's Pioneer Portfolio, Plexus is working with six other hospitals to apply PD strategies to drive individual and organizational change and reduce MRSA rates.