Leading interagency planning and collaboration in mass gatherings: public health and safety in the 2012 London Olympics

OBJECTIVES: Planning and implementing public health initiatives in mass gatherings such as the Olympic Games pose unique challenges for interorganizational collaboration, which involves interaction among multiple and diverse agencies. Nonetheless, there is limited empirical evidence to support interagency collaboration and public health planning decisions in mass gatherings and how leadership can shape such interactions. We empirically explored these topics in the 2012 London Olympics to identify lessons to inform planning for future mass gatherings. STUDY DESIGN: This is a qualitative case study. METHODS: Data comprised 39 semistructured interviews with key informants conducted before, during, and after the games; in addition, direct observations of field exercises and documentary analysis were also used. Open coding and thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: We identified two main leadership challenges that influenced interagency collaboration: organizational public health leadership and coordinating collaborative decision-making. Two facilitative conditions helped overcome the previous challenges: nurturing interorganizational linkages and creating shared understanding by activating codified frameworks at the organizational level. CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights leadership issues in interagency collaboration in mass gatherings. Practical implications arising from this study may inform the ways the organizers of mass gatherings, public health and safety agencies, and professionals can engage in effective partnerships and joint working

Interagency collaboration in mass gatherings: the case of public health and safety organisations in the 2012 London Olympic Games

Mass gatherings such as the Olympic Games pose unique challenges for interorganizational collaboration. Such events often bring together organizations that collaborate irregularly or have never engaged in joint working. They involve interaction and collaboration among multiple and diverse agencies aiming at delivering a service to a large clientele, which can often prove challenging. This study used the 2012 London Olympic Games as the empirical setting to examine the interagency collaboration among the multiple and diverse public health and safety organizations involved in one of the world's largest mass gatherings. A single, holistic and exploratory case study design was used and data were collected before, during and after the Games through 39 semi-structured interviews with key informants, direct observations of field exercises and documentary analysis. Data collection commenced in May 2011, 14 months before the actual Games, and was completed in October 2012, two months after the completion of the Games. Template analysis was used to thematically analyze the interviews' transcripts, the fieldnotes from observations and the documents. Findings discuss interagency collaboration in mass gatherings along three main activity domains: leadership, communication and learning. In each domain, a number of challenges and facilitators emerged influencing interagency collaboration. Regarding the leadership domain, the lack of engagement of the leading organization and the ambiguous interoganizational decision-making processes negatively influenced collaboration. Shared micro-level leadership and the use of interorganizational linkages enabled collaborative working. Experienced positional leaders of each organization enabled the decision-making process at the interagency operational level by exercising a range of interpersonal leadership capabilities including flexibility and the ability to negotiate. Codified frameworks at the organizational level also provided leaders with common ground to assist them manage the complex interorganizational processes. Within the second domain, the complex intraorganizational structure of the involved agencies and the high density of information transmitted were associated with a dysfunctional communication experience. Findings revealed that the crafting of boundary-spanning roles and intense face-to-face interaction positively contributed to interagency collaboration. Online information systems and formal intersectoral dissemination of reports were essential in gaining common situational awareness. The implicit cultural rules in the form of communication etiquette shaped how interorganizational collaboration was perceived. Finally, sharing the acquired knowledge was a necessary step to create an enabling collaborative environment among interacting organizations. Experiential learning was identified as a significant factor which helped promote joint understanding and partnership work. Informal interpersonal exchanges and formal knowledge transfer activities facilitated knowledge sharing across interorganizational boundaries, helping to break down silos. The study outlines challenges and strategies that shaped interagency collaboration in the context of mass gatherings. Practical implications arising from this study inform the ways organizers of mass gatherings, public health and safety agencies and professionals can engage in effective partnerships and joint working

The effectiveness of a disaster training programme for healthcare workers in Greece

Background:  Recent natural disasters have made disaster training a public priority. Multiple methods of disaster preparedness training have been established in hospitals worldwide. Nevertheless, researchers have not yet discovered the most effective method for training hospital personnel in the area of disaster preparedness. Aim:  The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that a brief educational intervention would improve hospital staff knowledge about the hospital disaster plan and procedures. Methods:  A quasi-experimental design was used. The intervention group included 56 professionals and the comparison group included 35 professionals in Greece. The intervention group attended a 5-h course that addressed the basic principles of hospital disaster management. A structured questionnaire was used to estimate the participants' changes in knowledge. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), t-test, one-way ANOVA and chi-square test were used to analyse the data. Results:  The intervention resulted in a significant improvement in knowledge. The mean score was significantly higher immediately after the intervention programme [86; standard error (SE): 2] than before (44.5; SE: 1.7) (P < 0.001). The mean score 1 month later was significantly lower (77.2; SE: 2.3) than that immediately after the intervention programme (P < 0.001), but significantly higher than the mean score before the intervention programme (P < 0.001). Participants in the control group achieved a score of 40 (SE: 2.4), which was significantly lower than the scores of the intervention group after the course (P < 0.001). Conclusion:  The disaster training course had a great benefit for the participants. This study suggests that a brief educational intervention is beneficial, but more must be done

The effectiveness of a disaster training programme for healthcare workers in Greece

Background: Recent natural disasters have made disaster training a public priority. Multiple methods of disaster preparedness training have been established in hospitals worldwide. Nevertheless, researchers have not yet discovered the most effective method for training hospital personnel in the area of disaster preparedness. Aim: The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that a brief educational intervention would improve hospital staff knowledge about the hospital disaster plan and procedures. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used. The intervention group included 56 professionals and the comparison group included 35 professionals in Greece. The intervention group attended a 5-h course that addressed the basic principles of hospital disaster management. A structured questionnaire was used to estimate the participants&apos; changes in knowledge. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), t-test, one-way ANOVA and chi-square test were used to analyse the data. Results: The intervention resulted in a significant improvement in knowledge. The mean score was significantly higher immediately after the intervention programme [86; standard error (SE): 2] than before (44.5; SE: 1.7) (P&lt;0.001). The mean score 1 month later was significantly lower (77.2; SE: 2.3) than that immediately after the intervention programme (P&lt;0.001), but significantly higher than the mean score before the intervention programme (P&lt;0.001). Participants in the control group achieved a score of 40 (SE: 2.4), which was significantly lower than the scores of the intervention group after the course (P&lt;0.001). Conclusion: The disaster training course had a great benefit for the participants. This study suggests that a brief educational intervention is beneficial, but more must be done. © 2011 The Authors. International Nursing Review © 2011 International Council of Nurses