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Glob Implement Res Appl
. 2023 May 30;1-13.
doi: 10.1007/s43477-023-00085-4. Online ahead of print. The Implementation Experience of COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Testing in a Large-Scale Construction Project in Victoria, Australia
Teralynn Ludwick # 1 , Nicola Stephanie Creagh # 2 , Jane L Goller 1 , Claire Elizabeth Nightingale # 2 , Angeline Samantha Ferdinand # 2 3
Affiliations
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused major disruptions to industries and workplaces. Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) for COVID-19, which allow individuals to self-administer tests and receive timely results without laboratory testing, provide the opportunity for surveillance testing of asymptomatic individuals in non-medical settings. However, the literature offers few lessons regarding how to create enabling conditions for effective and sustainable implementation in a workplace setting. Guided by the RE-AIM framework, we assessed factors associated with the adoption, implementation, and maintenance of mandatory RAT in a large-scale construction project in Victoria, Australia. We used a mixed methods approach involving site observation, worker surveys (n = 30), and interviews with 51 site workers and managers to understand the implementation experience. Factors which facilitated adoption included easy, non-invasive testing procedure; sense of workplace safety; and strong backing by management and acceptance by workers that RATs helped limit COVID-19-related lost days of work. Gaps in knowledge and adherence to testing protocols, logistical challenges (test kit supply, observation of test results), and low appetite for long-term, mandatory testing emerged as challenges for effective implementation and sustainability. As RAT becomes normalized in a range of workplace settings, strategies will be required to support the sustainability of implementation, including longer-term acceptability of surveillance testing and adherence to testing protocols.
Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43477-023-00085-4.
Keywords: Coronavirus; Evaluation; Implementation science; RE-AIM; Rapid antigen testing.
. 2023 May 30;1-13.
doi: 10.1007/s43477-023-00085-4. Online ahead of print. The Implementation Experience of COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Testing in a Large-Scale Construction Project in Victoria, Australia
Teralynn Ludwick # 1 , Nicola Stephanie Creagh # 2 , Jane L Goller 1 , Claire Elizabeth Nightingale # 2 , Angeline Samantha Ferdinand # 2 3
Affiliations
- PMID: 37363376
- PMCID: PMC10228896
- DOI: 10.1007/s43477-023-00085-4
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused major disruptions to industries and workplaces. Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) for COVID-19, which allow individuals to self-administer tests and receive timely results without laboratory testing, provide the opportunity for surveillance testing of asymptomatic individuals in non-medical settings. However, the literature offers few lessons regarding how to create enabling conditions for effective and sustainable implementation in a workplace setting. Guided by the RE-AIM framework, we assessed factors associated with the adoption, implementation, and maintenance of mandatory RAT in a large-scale construction project in Victoria, Australia. We used a mixed methods approach involving site observation, worker surveys (n = 30), and interviews with 51 site workers and managers to understand the implementation experience. Factors which facilitated adoption included easy, non-invasive testing procedure; sense of workplace safety; and strong backing by management and acceptance by workers that RATs helped limit COVID-19-related lost days of work. Gaps in knowledge and adherence to testing protocols, logistical challenges (test kit supply, observation of test results), and low appetite for long-term, mandatory testing emerged as challenges for effective implementation and sustainability. As RAT becomes normalized in a range of workplace settings, strategies will be required to support the sustainability of implementation, including longer-term acceptability of surveillance testing and adherence to testing protocols.
Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43477-023-00085-4.
Keywords: Coronavirus; Evaluation; Implementation science; RE-AIM; Rapid antigen testing.