Abstract
BACKGROUND: Economically disadvantaged patients diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) experience post-hospitalizations disparities due to fragmented care transitions. PURPOSE: To describe the pre-implementation strategies used to adapt and implement a nurse-led transitional care intervention (Thrive) to meet the needs of economically disadvantaged patients diagnosed with an SMI. METHODS: Two pre-implementation strategies, Evidence Based Quality Improvement (EBQI) meetings and Formative Evaluation (FE) research, were used to adapt intervention components. FE data included semi-structured interviews analyzed using Rapid Qualitative Analysis. FINDINGS: Adaptations were made to core components of Thrive and strategies to support implementation were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Participatory strategies help to adapt interventions that are person-centered and tailored to the organizational context. TRIAL: NCT06203509.