Helping teams deliver new models of care

How does behavioural science fit with organisational change?

Health and Social Care organisations are being asked to change at an unprecedented scale and pace. Behavioural science can help shed light on why individuals within teams might find change difficult and empower healthcare teams with tried and tested methods to make change happen successfully.

Watch this animation to find out more about why taking a behavioural approach to workforce transformation can help teams change.

Why should we take a behavioural science approach?

Healthcare redesign involves complex changes in organisations. Success ultimately depends on individuals’ behaviours, such as whether a nurse does or doesn’t follow a newly agreed integrated pathway.

Stumbling blocks in implementing innovation often come down to difficulties in what people sometimes call ‘culture’ (the way things are done). See our Briefing: What Does ‘Culture’ Mean for Teams Working in New Models of Care?

Research into these issues in implementation have shown the following problems:

• A disconnect between policy and practice
• A lack of understanding of real-life influences on behaviour
• Minimal communication when developing training or other interventions.

Teams aren’t able to understand the impact of high-level policy on their day-to-day activities if they aren’t involved in the co-development of their training, as they usually know what will work best for them.

Over a century, behavioural science has built knowledge on how to understand and measure the drivers of individual behaviour change and how to overcome barriers to change.

Managers, organisational development practitioners and team members who use a structured behavioural science approach can expect:

• more engagement in change from teams
• better team morale
• a clearer understanding of barriers and facilitators to change and what can help.

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