Alberta Context Tool (ACT)

Alberta Context Tool

Measure organizational context in complex healthcare sett

Alberta Context Tool

What is the Alberta Context Tool?

The Alberta Context Tool is a survey used to measure organizational context

The Alberta Context Tool© (ACT) is a survey tool used to measure organizational context for use in complex healthcare settings (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, community settings). It assesses individual healthcare provider's perceptions of organizational context. These perceptions can be aggregated to provide unit and higher level (e.g., hospital, facility) estimates of context. The ACT was developed to enable researchers to determine which elements of context facilitate and/or hinder successful knowledge translation (i.e., uptake of research knowledge by healthcare providers) and patient outcomes.

Versions

There are three different versions of the ACT, a version for each setting. Each setting has multiple forms, one form for each provider group. The ACT is available in six languages.

Alberta Context Tool Settings

Settings

Acute Care (adult and pediatric)

Residential Long Term Care (nursing homes)

Community/Home Care

Alberta Context Tool Provider Groups

Provider Groups

Healthcare Aides
Professional Nurses
Allied Health Providers
Practice Specialists
Care Managers

Alberta Context Tool Languages

Languages

English
French
Swedish
German
Dutch

Acute Care


Healthcare Aides
Professional Nurses
Allied Health
Physicians
Practice Specialists
Care Managers
English
 





French
 





Swedish
 

 
 
 
 
Dutch
 

 
 
 
 
German
 

 
 
 
 

Residential Long Term Care


Healthcare Aides
Professional Nurses
Allied Health
Physicians
Practice Specialists
Care Managers
English






French
 





Swedish






Dutch



 
 
 
German



 


Community/Home Care


Healthcare Aides
Professional Nurses
Allied Health
Physicians
Practice Specialists
Care Managers
English






French
 





Swedish
 

 
 
 

Dutch
 

 
 
 

German
 

 
 
 

Concepts

All forms of the ACT contain of a series of questions that tap eight unique dimensions of organizational context. The eighth dimension, organizational slack, is subdivided into three parts. Together, these dimensions and sub-dimensions comprise ten modifiable concepts. The number of questions included in each ACT form is 56 to 58 (depending on the form).

Leadership

Leadership

Leadership refers to the actions of formal leaders on a unit that influence change and promote excellence in practice and resident care. Formal leaders will vary according to the care provider completing the ACT; for example, with care aides, a variety of: care managers, RNs, and/or LPNs can be selected as ‘formal leaders’. Individuals completing the ACT are asked to rate this leader by answering six items using a 5-point Likert agreement scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The final leadership score obtained for each individual is an average of his or her scores on the six items. Higher scores reflect a more positive perception of the leadership on the care unit.

Definition
# if items
Hypothesis
Sample item
Scale
The actions of formal leaders in an organization (unit) to influence change and excellence in practice; items generally reflect emotionally intelligent leadership
6
Care providers who perceive more positive (emotionally intelligent) unit leadership report higher research use
Looks for feedback to ideas and initiatives even when it is difficult to hear
5 point Likert


Request Access

The Alberta Context Tool is free to use for anyone who deems it appropriate for their research. However, using it in research requires the permission of the copyright holder Dr Carole A. Estabrooks. You can request access to the Alberta Context Tool depending your needs and where you are in your research process.

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Preview Access

Request Preview Access to view the ACT to see if it is appropriate for your research, or to submit it with a grant or an ethics application.

Email: kusp@ualberta.ca

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Full Use Access - Summer 2022

Once you've previewed and decided to use the ACT in your research, request Full Use Access permission to use it to collect data.



Alberta Context Tool (ACT) Conditions of Use

The Knowledge Utilization Studies Program (KUSP) will provide the researcher with a copy of the Alberta Context Tool (ACT). The researcher is responsible for the reproduction of ACT, the distribution of the survey, and the collection of data.

The researcher will retain full rights to the data for publication.  On completion of the study the researcher will forward a digital copy of the ACT and demographic data from their study. These data will be used to assess the psychometric properties of the ACT and to build the ACT’s normative record on an ongoing basis. KUSP will retain rights to use these data within analyses of its larger ACT data set but will not publish analyses based on these data alone.

The data should be received within one year of project completion and submitted as follows:

  • in Excel format
  • with documentation (i.e., codebook)
  • uploaded to the HRDR secure sharepoint site (by arrangement with the TREC Data Manager)

The researcher will not distribute ACT to any other party. The text will not be copied in any publication, research reports, or theses arising from the research.

The researcher will not adapt or modify the ACT without permission.

Permission to use ACT is granted solely for the project described in the Full Use Permission Agreement between KUSP and the researcher and is not transferrable to other researchers or projects.

If the ACT will be distributed in a language other than English, professional translation and back translation from English to the second language is required. Consultation with Dr Estabrooks during and following completion of the back translation must precede use of the tool.  All costs associated with translation and back translation are the responsibility of the requesting researcher. The translated version of ACT will become the property of Dr Estabrooks who will provide it, where requested, to other researchers under the same conditions as have been outlined above.

All copies of ACT must include the following text:

© Carole A. Estabrooks, 2007
All rights reserved. No part of this instrument may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted  in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.


Manual

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Alberta Context Tool User Manual

The user manual for the Alberta Context Tool is available in English.

Download

Publications



Methodological articles about the Alberta Context Tool


Articles about the validity, reliability, and translation of the ACT.

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Studies and publications using the Alberta Context Tool


Publications from research studies that have used the ACT to data collection.

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Contact

If you have any questions regarding the Alberta Context Tool please contact us at:

 alberta-context-tool-contact.png  kusp@ualberta.ca


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