A qualitative study exploring contributors to the success of a community of practice in rehabilitation

BACKGROUND: Communities of Practice (CoPs) focus on learning, knowledge sharing, and creation, and research indicates they can improve healthcare performance. This article describes the development of a CoP that focused on synthesizing and adapting evidence in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). This study aimed to investigate the CoP members’ experiences and perceived barriers and enablers of CoP success in the early phase of a CoP. METHODS: Physical therapists and a physician (n = 10) volunteered for a CoP that synthesized literature of PM&R evidence. CoP members participated in education and training on critical appraisal and knowledge synthesis, practiced critical appraisal skills, and summarized literature. Three months after CoP initiation, semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand the CoP members’ experiences and reflections. Members also completed an online survey that included the Evidence-Based Practice Confidence scale (EPIC), questions related to CoP activities, and demographics before CoP initiation. We utilized the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation Model of Behaviour (COM-B) to explore how these experiences related to the behavioral adaptation and participation. RESULTS: Ten themes related to the potential contributors to CoP success and failure were identified. These included project management, technological solutions, efficacy, organizational support, interaction, the bigger picture, self-development, time, and motivation. CONCLUSIONS: Contributors to CoP success may include clearly articulated project goals and participant expectations, education and training, reliable technology solutions, organizational support, face-to-face communication, and good project management. Importantly, CoP members need time to participate in activities. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-021-02711-x.