Exploring Norwegian homecare healthcare professionals’ perceptions of risk and the link to high-quality care: a qualitative multiple case study

Abstract

Objectives Homecare is a critical component of the ongoing restructuring of healthcare worldwide, given the shift from institution- to home-based care. The homecare evidence base still contains significant gaps: There is a lack of knowledge regarding quality and safety work and interventions. This study explores how home healthcare professionals perceive and use the concept of risk to guide them in providing high-quality healthcare while maintaining resilience.Design The study design is a qualitative multiple case study. The phenomena explored were risk perception, sensemaking and adaptations of care delivered to patients in their homes. Inductive content analysis was conducted.Setting The study was conducted in three Norwegian municipalities. Each municipality was defined as a single case.Participants Interviews with healthcare professionals were performed both individually and in focus groups of three to five persons. 19 interviews with 35 informants were conducted: 11 individual semistructured interviews and 8 focus groups.Results Four themes were identified: ‘professionalism is constantly prioritising and aligning care based on here-and-now observations’ ‘teamwork feels safe and enhances quality’ ‘taking responsibility for system risk’ and ‘reluctantly accepting the extended expectations from society’.Conclusions To make sense of risk when aspiring for high-quality care in everyday work, the healthcare professionals in this sample mainly used their clinical gaze, gut feeling and experience to detect subtle changes in the patients’ condition. Assessing risk information, not only individually but also as a team, was reportedly crucial for high-quality care. Healthcare professionals emphasised the well-being, safety and soundness of the patients when acting on risk information. They felt obliged to act on their gut feeling, moral compass and clinical understanding of quality.