Implementation of Reference Framework for Preventive Care for Older Adults: Cross-sectional Qualitative Study

This study highlights that while the RF has potential to improve preventive care in Hong Kong's primary care setting, its adoption is constrained by systemic, organizational, and individual barriers. To ensure its successful integration, flexible implementation, institutional support, tailored incentives, and enhanced clinician and patient engagement are essential. These findings offer practical implications for policymakers and healthcare practitioners to refine and promote the RF in routine consultations, and underscore the need for future research to test theory-informed implementation strategies. Furthermore, this study offered novel contributions to the CFIR literatures in systematically investigate physician perspectives on RF for the older adult population within the distinct socio-cultural and structural context of Hong Kong, COVID-19 pandemic impact to the current healthcare system and actionable implementation strategies for Asian populations. Applying the findings from this study, the CFIR-ERIC Matching Tool could be used to address the specific barriers identified in this study and improving implementation outcomes across various healthcare settings.