Fraser S. Tips for assessing how good practice spreads. Clinical Governance Bulletin. May 2002;3(1):7-9.

The author explores the relationship between communication and the spread of good practice, including the importance of the role that those with influence within a social system can play in facilitating spread.

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Rogers EM
New York, New York, USA: The Free Press; 1995

This is the classic work on how new ideas are spread in a variety of settings and cultures. Rogers describes factors influencing innovation such as the characteristics of the innovation itself, as well as a description of the receptivity of different segments of the population to embrace innovation. The descriptions of the roles of change agents and adopters are very useful in creating teams.

Fraser S. Understanding how communication can support the spread of good practice. Clinical Governance Bulletin. October 2001;2(4):2-4.

The author discusses several aspects of communication to support effective spread including: the importance of informal and social communication, paying attention to the means of the communication as well as its content, clearly targeting the intended audience, and recognizing the importance of opinion leaders as well as feedback in the communication process.

Van de Ven AH, Schomaker MS. Commentary: The rhetoric of evidence-based medicine. Health Care Management Review. 2002;27(3):89–91.

In this commentary, the authors assert that “...Innovations are more likely to be adopted when a convincing argument (logos) is presented by credible research proponents (ethos) who stir the interests, needs, and emotions of adopting practitioners (pathos).”

Spread and sustainability of service improvement: Factors identified by staff leading modernisation programmes. London, England: NHS Modernisation Agency; February 2003. Research into Practice, Report No. 4: Overview of early research findings.

The Research into Practice team at the NHS Modernisation Agency explores the factors influencing spread and sustainability of service improvement.

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NHS Modernisation Agency. Improvement leader's guide to sustainability and spread. Ipswich, England: Ancient House Printing Group; 2002.

Part of the UK National Health Service’s series for improvement leaders, this guide provides tools and methods for sustaining and spreading improvement ideas. After improvements are made within an organization, an important step is to sustain those ideas and build upon them.

Sarah Fraser. Growing together. Health Management. June 2000;10-12.

Sarah Fraser identifies some of the key components on how to share good practices and communicate the message successfully.

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