Benefits of Using Participatory Action Research to Inform Implementation of an Organizational Intervention

Purpose: This study was conducted to assess the implementation of the Sanctuary Model^®, a trauma-informed organizational intervention, from the perspective of Indirect Care Staff within a Northeast child welfare agency. The Model is designed to create an organizational culture that promotes emotional and physical safety. Research has established a connection between organizational climate and outcomes of children served by child welfare agencies (Glisson, 2007). Yet efforts to implement organizational interventions have met with challenges, including sub-optimal staff buy-in and readiness for change (Franklin & Hopson, 2007). The present study addresses a gap in the literature by assessing attitudes from Indirect Care Staff who are often overlooked in studies of organizational effectiveness (Bloom et al., 2003)..

Methods: Using a participatory action research approach, a study was designed collaboratively by a team of researchers and agency personnel. Indirect Care Staff were invited to complete a survey designed to measure attitudes and behaviors related to implementation of the Sanctuary Model. The survey included the Organizational Change Recipients’ Belief Scale (OCRBS; Armenakis, Bernerth, Pitts, & Walker, 2007), a reliable and valid measure of the following beliefs related to organizational change: Discrepancy (need for change), Appropriateness (of change), Efficacy, Principal Support and Valence (attractiveness of perceived outcome). The survey also included a measure of the extent to which personnel believed the model had been implemented successfully, and items that asked about commitment to the model and the degree to which different groups of employees in the organization were demonstrating desired Model behavior. Descriptive statistics and linear regression was used to answer study questions.

Results: Participants (N=37; 44% response rate) indicated through OCRBS responses that they are open to change, but not highly invested in using the Sanctuary Model. The highest scores were for the dimensions of Principal Support (4.85 out of a possible 7) and Efficacy (5.18). Respondents who believed the model had been implemented successfully (58.3%) had statistically higher scores for each of the readiness for change dimensions Valence (t = 2.80; p < .01), Appropriateness (t = 3.35; p < .01), Efficacy (t = 2.52; p < .05), and Principal support (t = 2.72; p < .05). Higher scores on Principal support (β = .45; p < .05) and Appropriateness (β = .40; p < .05) predict greater perceived commitment to model implementation. Controlling for tenure at the agency, the readiness for change model was significantly related to perceived commitment [R² = .84 adjusted, R² = .81, F(5, 31) = 32.21, p < .01]. Subordinates scored the highest in their demonstration of Model behavior (4.06 out of a possible 5), with Supervisors the next highest (3.46), and Leadership the lowest (2.90).

Implications: The results provide valuable information about the importance of organizational readiness for change in the successful implementation of organizational change efforts. The range in group scores for successful demonstration of desired behavior suggests the need for further research on why this may be the case; does familiarity lead to higher scores or are there issues of power dynamics at play?