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Oudenampsen J, van de Pol M, Blijlevens N, Das E. Interdisciplinary education affects student learning: a focus group study. BMC MEDICAL EDUCATION 2023; 23:169. [PMID: 36934239 PMCID: PMC10024401 DOI: 10.1186/s12909-023-04103-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In order to best prepare medical students for their increasingly complex future career, interdisciplinary higher education is swiftly gaining popularity. However, the implementation of interdisciplinary learning in medical education is challenging. The present study deepens the understanding of the challenges and opportunities inherent to the implementation of an interdisciplinary course. We elucidated the attitudes and beliefs of students participating in a newly developed interdisciplinary minor, in which students of medicine (MS) and communication and information sciences (CISS) were involved. METHODS We conducted four semi-structured focus group interviews, of which two were held before, and two were held after the course. Seven MS and six CISS participated voluntarily. A pre-arranged interview guide was used. The interviews were recorded and afterwards systematically analyzed with the 'constant comparative analysis' technique. RESULTS The focus group interviews revealed three differences in epistemics between students in terms of 1) curriculum content, 2) educational formats and 3) student's competence perceptions. These factors influenced the way students evaluated themselves, each other and the interdisciplinary course. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that factors that influence interdisciplinary learning are personal epistemics, individual learning preferences, and the synergy that is achieved throughout interdisciplinary learning. Organizing the dialogue among students of different disciplines could make students aware of inequalities, implicated biases and assigned status of different student groups. These empirical results are crucial to tailor interdisciplinary education to each specific discipline and to take interdisciplinary learning to a higher level of maturity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Oudenampsen
- Department of Hematology, Radboudumc Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein Noord 21, 6525EZ, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Marjolein van de Pol
- Department of Primary and Community Care, Radboudumc Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Nicole Blijlevens
- Department of Hematology, Radboudumc Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Enny Das
- Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Ridde V, Carillon S, Desgrées du Loû A, Sombié I. Analyzing implementation of public health interventions : a need for rigor, and the challenges of stakeholder involvement. Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique 2022; 71:101376. [PMID: 35835715 DOI: 10.1016/j.respe.2022.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This article shows how conceptual models can help to develop and evaluate public health interventions. It also reports on the challenges of getting stakeholders involved. METHOD The analysis is based on the reflexive approach applied by the authors during their participation in two public health intervention research (PHIR) projects, in France and in Burkina Faso. RESULTS In Paris, PHIR aimed to enable sub-Saharan immigrants to appropriate the existing means of prevention and sexual health care and to strengthen their empowerment in view of preserving their health. Evaluation was carried out using mixed methods. The intervention process theory is based on Ninacs' conceptual model of individual empowerment. The Consolidated Framework For Implementation Research (CFIR) was mobilized a posteriori to analyze the process. PHIR stemmed from collaboration between a research team and two associations. The different stakeholders were involved in the evaluation process, as were, at certain times, persons in highly precarious situations. In Ouagadougou, a community-based dengue vector control intervention was deployed to address an essential but neglected need. As regards evaluation, we opted for a holistic, mixed method approach (effectiveness and process). The contents of the intervention were determined based on tacit knowledge, a community preference survey and solid evidence. The theoretical framework of the intervention consisted in an eco-biological model of vector control. The implementation analysis combined an internal assessment of implementation fidelity with an external CFIR process analysis. All stakeholders were involved in the evaluation process. DISCUSSION Analysis confirmed not only the value of process evaluations in PHIR, but also the primordial importance of a rigorous approach. Stakeholder involvement is a major challenge to be addressed early in the planning of RISPs; with this in mind, effective and ethically sound assessment mechanisms need to be drawn up. Interdisciplinary evaluative approaches should be preferred, and the use of justified, relevant, and flexible frameworks is highly recommended. CONCLUSION Lessons learned for those wishing to engage in the process evaluation of a public health intervention are hereby presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Ridde
- Centre population et développement (Ceped), Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) et Université Paris Cité, Inserm ERL 1244, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006 Paris, France.
| | - S Carillon
- Centre population et développement (Ceped), Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) et Université Paris Cité, Inserm ERL 1244, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006 Paris, France
| | - A Desgrées du Loû
- Centre population et développement (Ceped), Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) et Université Paris Cité, Inserm ERL 1244, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006 Paris, France
| | - I Sombié
- Institut des Sciences des Sociétés (INSS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CNRST), 03 BP 7047, Avenue du Capitaine Thomas Sankara, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
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Albert M, Rowland P, Friesen F, Laberge S. Barriers to cross-disciplinary knowledge flow: The case of medical education research. PERSPECTIVES ON MEDICAL EDUCATION 2022; 11:149-155. [PMID: 34648134 PMCID: PMC9240116 DOI: 10.1007/s40037-021-00685-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Revised: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The medical education research field operates at the crossroads of two distinct academic worlds: higher education and medicine. As such, this field provides a unique opportunity to explore new forms of cross-disciplinary knowledge exchange. METHODS Cross-disciplinary knowledge flow in medical education research was examined by looking at citation patterns in the five journals with the highest impact factor in 2017. To grasp the specificities of the knowledge flow in medical education, the field of higher education was used as a comparator. In total, 2031 citations from 64 medical education and 41 higher education articles published in 2017 were examined. RESULTS Medical education researchers draw on a narrower range of knowledge communities than their peers in higher education. Medical education researchers predominantly cite articles published in health and medical education journals (80% of all citations), and to a lesser extent, articles published in education and social science journals. In higher education, while the largest share of the cited literature is internal to the domain (36%), researchers cite literature from across the social science spectrum. Findings suggest that higher education scholars engage in conversations with academics from a broader range of communities and perspectives than their medical education colleagues. DISCUSSION Using Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of doxa and field, it is argued that the variety of epistemic cultures entering the higher education research space contributes to its interdisciplinary nature. Conversely, the existence of a relatively homogeneous epistemic culture in medicine potentially impedes cross-disciplinary knowledge exchange.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Albert
- Wilson Centre and Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
| | - Paula Rowland
- Wilson Centre and Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | | | - Suzanne Laberge
- School of Kinesiology and Physical Activity Sciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
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Pavić Ž, Šuljok A. Vaccination conspiracy beliefs among social science & humanities and STEM educated people-An analysis of the mediation paths. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0264722. [PMID: 35231050 PMCID: PMC8887742 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding vaccine hesitancy is becoming increasingly important, especially after the global outbreak of COVID-19. The main goal of this study was to explore the differences in vaccination conspiracy beliefs between people with a university degree coming from different scientific fields-Social Sciences & Humanities (SH) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The study was conducted on an online convenience sample of respondents with college and university degrees in Croatia (N = 577). The results revealed that respondents educated in SH proved to be more prone to vaccination conspiracy beliefs. The indirect effect through science literacy was confirmed, while this was not the case for the indirect effects through health beliefs (natural immunity beliefs) and trust in the healthcare system. However, all three variables were important direct predictors of vaccination conspiracy beliefs. Female gender and religiosity were positively correlated with vaccination conspiracy beliefs, while age was not a statistically significant predictor. The authors concluded by emphasizing the necessity of the more theoretically elaborated approaches to the study of the educational and other socio-demographic differences in vaccine hesitancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Željko Pavić
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
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Hamiduzzaman M, De-Bellis A, Abigail W, Fletcher A. Critical social framework on the determinants of primary healthcare access and utilisation. Fam Med Community Health 2021; 9:fmch-2021-001031. [PMID: 34799432 PMCID: PMC8606761 DOI: 10.1136/fmch-2021-001031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
This paper aims to contextualise ‘healthcare access and utilisation’ within its wider social circumstances, including structural factors that shape primary healthcare for marginalised groups. Mainstream theories often neglect complexities among the broader social, institutional and cultural milieus that shape primary healthcare utilisation in reality. A blended critical social framework is presented to highlight the recognition and emancipatory intents surrounding person, family, healthcare practice and society. Using the theoretical contributions of Habermas and Honneth, the framework focuses on power relationships, misrecognition/recognition strategies, as well as disempowerment/empowerment dynamics. To enable causal and structural analysis, we draw on the depth ontology of critical realism. The framework is then applied to the case of rural elderly women’s primary healthcare use in Bangladesh. Drawing on the literature, this article illustrates how a blended critical social perspective reveals the overlapping and complex determinants that affect primary healthcare utilisation, before concluding with the importance of situating healthcare access in sociocultural structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Hamiduzzaman
- College of Health, Medicine & Wellbeing, The University of Newcastle, Taree, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Anita De-Bellis
- College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Wendy Abigail
- College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Amber Fletcher
- Department of Sociology & Social Studies, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
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Rotteau L, Albert M, Bhattacharyya O, Berta W, Webster F. When all else fails: The (mis)use of qualitative research in the evaluation of complex interventions. J Eval Clin Pract 2021; 27:264-271. [PMID: 32424993 DOI: 10.1111/jep.13396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Revised: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 03/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
RATIONAL, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES Qualitative research has been promoted as an important component of the evaluation of complex interventions to support the scale up and spread of health service interventions, but is currently not being maximized in practice. We aim to identify and explore the sociocultural and structural factors that impact the uses (and misuses) of qualitative research in the evaluation of complex health services interventions. METHODS We conducted a qualitative analysis of data collected in a multiple case study of the evaluation and scale up and spread of three health service intervention. RESULTS Our findings demonstrate the challenges of meaningfully integrating qualitative research in evaluation programmes lead by clinicians with limited qualitative expertise and operating within an environment dominated by biomedical research, even with methodological support. CONCLUSIONS Based on these findings we encourage ongoing engagement of qualitative researchers in evaluation programmes to begin to refine our methodological understanding, while also suggesting changes to medical education and evaluation funding models to create fertile environments for interdisciplinary collaborations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leahora Rotteau
- Institute for Healthcare Policy, Measurement and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mathieu Albert
- The Wilson Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Onil Bhattacharyya
- Institute for Healthcare Policy, Measurement and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Community and Family Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Whitney Berta
- Institute for Healthcare Policy, Measurement and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Fiona Webster
- Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
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de Jong SP, Ketting E, van Drooge L. Highly esteemed science: An analysis of attitudes towards and perceived attributes of science in letters to the editor in two Dutch newspapers. PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE (BRISTOL, ENGLAND) 2020; 29:37-52. [PMID: 31591923 PMCID: PMC7323765 DOI: 10.1177/0963662519878988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Understanding attitudes towards science is crucial to safeguard the future of science, the application of its results and the inclusivity of decision-making processes related to science and technology. Most studies focus on attributes of social groups to explain attitudes towards science. In this study, we aim to move the discussion forward by focusing on perceived attributes of science itself by analysing over 300 letters to the editor in two Dutch national newspapers. The authors of these letters express a large degree of trust in science as a source of societal progress, if research is conducted according to a specific set of rules. Yet, they believe that these rules are under attack. The interests of universities as organizations and individual academics as well as the involvement of industry and government in research are perceived as conflicting with these rules. We conclude with recommendations for further research and practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan P.L. de Jong
- Stefan P.L. De Jong, Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, Kolffpad 1, 2333 BN Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Ng SL, Kangasjarvi E, Lorello GR, Nemoy L, Brydges R. 'There shouldn't be anything wrong with not knowing': epistemologies in simulation. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2019; 53:1049-1059. [PMID: 31418455 DOI: 10.1111/medu.13928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2018] [Revised: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 06/11/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT Medical education embraces simulation-based education (SBE). However, key SBE features purported to support learning, such as learner safety and learning through experience and error, may not align with the dominant culture of medicine, in which portraying confidence and certainty about one's knowledge prevails. Misaligned conceptions about knowledge and learning may produce unintended negative effects, including the suboptimal implementation of SBE, which could consequently compromise SBE and its outcomes. METHODS To uncover the epistemological beliefs of students experiencing SBE, we conducted a theory-informed analysis of interviews with 24 pre-clerkship medical students following their participation in an SBE training study. Our analysis borrowed from coding methods common in constructivist grounded theory and used Hofer and Pintrich's four dimensions of epistemology as sensitising concepts. RESULTS Participants subscribed to a dominant view of knowledge as consisting of concrete facts, derived from external sources. By contrast, they described but did not prioritise a conception of building their own knowledge through different learning experiences. Participants positioned experts (i.e. teaching faculty members) as the ultimate knowledge validators through their presence and feedback. Participants also noted that faculty staff could counter medicine's pressures to perform with certainty and confidence at all times by instead embodying and modelling an authentic appreciation of learning through experiences, errors and discovery. CONCLUSIONS Medicine's tendency to idealise the objective pursuit of singular truths may compromise the purported culture of SBE as a space for learning many wide-ranging aspects of medicine, including how and when to innovate and deviate from norms. Explicit attempts to bridge the epistemological beliefs of medicine and SBE may better enable the realisation of safe experiential learning. Faculty members are positioned to play key roles in enabling this bridging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stella L Ng
- Centre for Faculty Development, St Michael's Hospital and University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Emilia Kangasjarvi
- Centre for Faculty Development, St Michael's Hospital and University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Gianni R Lorello
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Toronto Western Hospital - University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Anesthesia, Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Lori Nemoy
- Allan Waters Family Simulation Centre, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ryan Brydges
- Allan Waters Family Simulation Centre, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Development of a measure to evaluate competence perceptions of natural and social science. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0209311. [PMID: 30601856 PMCID: PMC6314610 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2017] [Accepted: 12/04/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Interdisciplinary scientific research teams are essential for responding to society’s complex scientific and social issues. Perceptual barriers to collaboration can inhibit the productivity of teams crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries. To explore these perceptual barriers, survey measures related to perceived competence were developed and validated with a population of earth scientists (n = 449) ranging from undergraduates through professionals. Resulting competence scales included three factors that we labeled as Perceived Respect (PR), Perceived Methodological Rigor (PM), and Perceived Intelligence (Pi). A Mann-Whitney U test revealed that earth scientists perceived social science/scientists as significantly less competent than natural science/scientists. A multivariate multilevel analysis indicated that women perceived scientists as more intelligent than did men. Working with social scientists and holding an earth science PhD changed earth scientists’ perceptions of social science on multiple scales. Our study indicates that competence in scientific disciplines is a multidimensional construct. Our results from earth scientists also indicate that perceptual barriers towards other scientific disciplines should be studied further as interdisciplinarity in scientific research continues to be encouraged as a solution to many socio-scientific problems.
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Bardosh KL. Towards a science of global health delivery: A socio-anthropological framework to improve the effectiveness of neglected tropical disease interventions. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2018; 12:e0006537. [PMID: 30024887 PMCID: PMC6053127 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2018] [Accepted: 05/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Over the last decade, implementation research and a science of global health delivery have emerged as important vehicles to improve the effectiveness of interventions. Efforts to control neglected tropical diseases (NTD) operate in challenging circumstances and with marginalized populations, making attention to context-specific details particularly relevant. Socio-anthropological insights have much to offer a science of NTD delivery. In this paper, an accessible and actionable framework for understanding NTD intervention effectiveness, based on socio-anthropological research, is presented and its utility for program planning and monitoring and evaluation is outlined. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The framework was developed inductively by comparatively analyzing three rapid ethnographic studies undertaken in Eastern Africa (2010-2013) on three different large-scale NTD interventions: rabies elimination in Tanzania, sleeping sickness control in Uganda and the prevention of parasitic worms in Zambia. The framework includes five "intervention domains" where the effectiveness of these interventions was negotiated and determined at the local level. This involves: 1) the terrain of intervention (including seasonality and geographical variability); 2) community agency (including local knowledge, risk perceptions, behaviors, leadership and social pressure); 3) the strategies and incentives of field staff (skills, motivations, capabilities and support); 4) the socio-materiality of technology (characteristics of intervention tools and the adoption process itself); and 5) the governance of interventions (policy narratives, available expertise, bureaucracy, politics and the utilization of knowledge). The paper illustrates the importance of each of these domains by drawing on the case study research, presenting lessons learnt and practical recommendations for how such insights could improve intervention delivery. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE To help close the gap between efficacy and effectiveness in NTD programs, it is important that field staff: 1) generate meaningful knowledge about contextual factors; 2) use this knowledge to tailor field strategies; and 3) create routine mechanisms to account for the dynamic process of implementation itself. The framework presented here offers a simple analytical tool to strengthen these knowledge-to-action relationships existing project planning tools, drawing on the insights of socio-anthropology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Louis Bardosh
- Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
- Department of Environmental and Global Health, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
- Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
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Lee SJ, Jung TY, Lee TR, Han JH. Accepting telemedicine in a circulatory medicine ward in major hospitals in South Korea: patients' and health professionals' perception of real-time electrocardiogram monitoring. BMC Health Serv Res 2018; 18:293. [PMID: 29678189 PMCID: PMC5910594 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-018-3105-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2017] [Accepted: 04/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background South Korean government is currently in progress of expanding the coverage of telemedicine projects as part of an attempt to vitalize service industry, but is facing fierce opposition from KMA. Practice of telemedicine requires sufficient discussions among related parties. Although the participation of medical specialists is important, agreement from the public is essential. Methods Three main tertiary care centers in Seoul were selected for data collection. A total of 224 patients (patients n = 180, patient guardian n = 44) and medical professionals (n = 41) were selected using simple random sampling. Mixed method of quantitative survey and qualitative semi-interview was used. Results This study analyzed patients’ and medical professionals’ perception about the application of telemedicine in cardiology ward in tertiary care centers to provide baseline data when developing and applying telemedicine services. Results implied high need for encouraging telemedicine projects in order to appeal needs among population by providing experience (p < 0.001) and knowledge (p < 0.001). Other results showed that the need for electrocardiography monitoring was high among not only in remote areas but also in areas close to the capital. 64.52% of all participants thought that telemedicine was needed, and 73.21% of participants were willing to use telemedicine service if provided. Semi-interviews revealed that participants expected more cost and time saving services through remote treatment, by not having to visit long distance hospitals frequently. Conclusions Research results oppose Korean Medical Association’s opinion that the population is against enforcing telemedicine related laws. The findings in this study reflect an up-to-date perception of telemedicine among patients and medical professionals in a tertiary care centers’ cardiology ward. Moreover, the study provides a baseline that is needed in order to overcome past failures and to successfully implement telemedicine in South Korea. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-018-3105-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seo-Joon Lee
- Research Institute of Health Science, Korea University, Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Tae-Young Jung
- Department of Medical & Health Administration, U1 University, 310, Daehak-ro, Yeongdong-eup, Yeongdong-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea
| | - Tae-Ro Lee
- BK21 PLUS, School of Health Policy and Management, Graduate School, Korea University, Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, Korea
| | - Jae-Hoon Han
- Strategic Planning Team, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, 222, Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, Korea. .,Department of Medical Information, The Catholic University of Seoul, 222, Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 06591, Korea.
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Costa-Souza J, Vieira-da-Silva LM, Pinell P. A socio-historical approach to policy analysis: the case of the Brazilian Workers’ Food Policy. CAD SAUDE PUBLICA 2018; 34:e00140516. [DOI: 10.1590/0102-311x00140516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2016] [Accepted: 04/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract: Policy analyses based on traditional or structuralist definitions of the state are important, but they have some limitations for explaining processes related to policymaking, implementation, and results. Bourdieusian sociology links the analysis to objective and subjective dimensions of social practices and can help elucidate these phenomena. This article provides such empirical evidence by analyzing the social genesis of a Brazilian policy that currently serves 18 million workers and was established by the state in 1976 through the Fiscal Incentives Program for Workers’ Nutrition (PIFAT/PAT). The study linked the analysis of the trajectory of social agents involved in the policy’s formulation to the historical conditions that allowed the policy to exist in the first place. Although the literature treats the policy as a workers’ food program (PAT), the current study showed that it actually represented a new model for paying financial subsidies to companies that provided food to their employees, meanwhile upgrading the commercial market for collective meals. The study further showed that the program emerged as an administrative policy, but linked to economic agents. The program became a specific social space in which issues related to workers’ nutrition became secondary, but useful for disguising what had been an explicit side of its genesis, namely its essentially fiscal nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamacy Costa-Souza
- Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil; Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil
| | | | - Patrice Pinell
- Centre Européen de Sociologie et de Science Politique, France
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Albert M, Laberge S. Confined to a tokenistic status: Social scientists in leadership roles in a national health research funding agency. Soc Sci Med 2017; 185:137-146. [DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.05.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2016] [Revised: 04/07/2017] [Accepted: 05/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Ajjawi R, Barton KL, Dennis AA, Rees CE. Developing a national dental education research strategy: priorities, barriers and enablers. BMJ Open 2017; 7:e013129. [PMID: 28360237 PMCID: PMC5372062 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study aimed to identify national dental education research (DER) priorities for the next 3-5 years and to identify barriers and enablers to DER. SETTING Scotland. PARTICIPANTS In this two-stage online questionnaire study, we collected data with multiple dental professions (eg, dentistry, dental nursing and dental hygiene) and stakeholder groups (eg, learners, clinicians, educators, managers, researchers and academics). Eighty-five participants completed the Stage 1 qualitative questionnaire and 649 participants the Stage 2 quantitative questionnaire. RESULTS Eight themes were identified at Stage 1. Of the 24 DER priorities identified, the top three were: role of assessments in identifying competence; undergraduate curriculum prepares for practice and promoting teamwork. Following exploratory factor analysis, the 24 items loaded onto four factors: teamwork and professionalism, measuring and enhancing performance, dental workforce issues and curriculum integration and innovation. Barriers and enablers existed at multiple levels: individual, interpersonal, institutional structures and cultures and technology. CONCLUSIONS This priority setting exercise provides a necessary first step to developing a national DER strategy capturing multiple perspectives. Promoting DER requires improved resourcing alongside efforts to overcome peer stigma and lack of valuing and motivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rola Ajjawi
- Centre for Assessment in Research and Digital Learning, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Karen L Barton
- Division of Food and Drink, School of Science, Engineering & Technology, Abertay University, Dundee, UK
| | - Ashley A Dennis
- Centre for Medical Education, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
| | - Charlotte E Rees
- Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Bates J, Schrewe B. Navigating the unchartable: paths to promotion and tenure in health professions education. PERSPECTIVES ON MEDICAL EDUCATION 2016; 5:323-324. [PMID: 27766576 PMCID: PMC5122515 DOI: 10.1007/s40037-016-0306-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Bates
- Department of Family Practice and Centre for Health Education Scholarship, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Brett Schrewe
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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Ridde V, Olivier de Sardan JP. A mixed methods contribution to the study of health public policies: complementarities and difficulties. BMC Health Serv Res 2015; 15 Suppl 3:S7. [PMID: 26559730 PMCID: PMC4652477 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6963-15-s3-s7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The use of mixed methods (combining quantitative and qualitative data) is developing in a variety of forms, especially in the health field. Our own research has adopted this perspective from the outset. We have sought all along to innovate in various ways and especially to develop an equal partnership, in the sense of not allowing any single approach to dominate. After briefly describing mixed methods, in this article we explain and illustrate how we have exploited both qualitative and quantitative methods to answer our research questions, ending with a reflective analysis of our experiment.
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Giles JA, Hill EJR. Examining our hidden curricula: powerful, visible, gendered and discriminatory. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2015; 49:244-246. [PMID: 25693983 DOI: 10.1111/medu.12664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- James A Giles
- Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, USA
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Arauz MJ, Ridde V, Hernández LM, Charris Y, Carabali M, Villar LÁ. Developing a social autopsy tool for dengue mortality: a pilot study. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0117455. [PMID: 25658485 PMCID: PMC4320105 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2014] [Accepted: 12/23/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Dengue fever is a public health problem in the tropical and sub-tropical world. Dengue cases have grown dramatically in recent years as well as dengue mortality. Colombia has experienced periodic dengue outbreaks with numerous dengue related-deaths, where the Santander department has been particularly affected. Although social determinants of health (SDH) shape health outcomes, including mortality, it is not yet understood how these affect dengue mortality. The aim of this pilot study was to develop and pre-test a social autopsy (SA) tool for dengue mortality. METHODS AND FINDINGS The tool was developed and pre-tested in three steps. First, dengue fatal cases and 'near misses' (those who recovered from dengue complications) definitions were elaborated. Second, a conceptual framework on determinants of dengue mortality was developed to guide the construction of the tool. Lastly, the tool was designed and pre-tested among three relatives of fatal cases and six near misses in 2013 in the metropolitan zone of Bucaramanga. The tool turned out to be practical in the context of dengue mortality in Colombia after some modifications. The tool aims to study the social, individual, and health systems determinants of dengue mortality. The tool is focused on studying the socioeconomic position and the intermediary SDH rather than the socioeconomic and political context. CONCLUSIONS The SA tool is based on the scientific literature, a validated conceptual framework, researchers' and health professionals' expertise, and a pilot study. It is the first time that a SA tool has been created for the dengue mortality context. Our work furthers the study on SDH and how these are applied to neglected tropical diseases, like dengue. This tool could be integrated in surveillance systems to provide complementary information on the modifiable and avoidable death-related factors and therefore, be able to formulate interventions for dengue mortality reduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- María José Arauz
- School of Public Health (ESPUM), University of Montreal / University of Montreal Hospital Research Center (CRCHUM), Montreal, Canada
| | - Valéry Ridde
- School of Public Health (ESPUM), University of Montreal / University of Montreal Hospital Research Center (CRCHUM), Montreal, Canada
| | - Libia Milena Hernández
- Centro de Atención y Diagnóstico de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CDI-APRESIA), Bucaramanga, Colombia
| | - Yaneth Charris
- Centro de Atención y Diagnóstico de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CDI-APRESIA), Bucaramanga, Colombia
| | - Mabel Carabali
- Dengue Vaccines Initiative / International Vaccines Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Albert M, Paradis E, Kuper A. Interdisciplinary promises versus practices in medicine: The decoupled experiences of social sciences and humanities scholars. Soc Sci Med 2015; 126:17-25. [DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Bardosh K. Global aspirations, local realities: the role of social science research in controlling neglected tropical diseases. Infect Dis Poverty 2014; 3:35. [PMID: 25320672 PMCID: PMC4197218 DOI: 10.1186/2049-9957-3-35] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2014] [Accepted: 09/16/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are both drivers and manifestations of poverty and social inequality. Increased advocacy efforts since the mid-2000s have led to ambitious new control and elimination targets set for 2020 by the World Health Organisation. While these global aspirations represent significant policy momentum, there are multifaceted challenges in controlling infectious diseases in resource-poor local contexts that need to be acknowledged, understood and engaged. However a number of recent publications have emphasised the “neglected” status of applied social science research on NTDs. In light of the 2020 targets, this paper explores the social science/NTD literature and unpacks some of the ways in which social inquiry can help support effective and sustainable interventions. Five priority areas are discussed, including on policy processes, health systems capacity, compliance and resistance to interventions, education and behaviour change, and community participation. The paper shows that despite the multifaceted value of having anthropological and sociological perspectives integrated into NTD programmes, contemporary efforts underutilise this potential. This is reflective of the dominance of top-down information flows and technocratic approaches in global health. To counter this tendency, social research needs to be more than an afterthought; integrating social inquiry into the planning, monitoring and evaluating process will help ensure that flexibility and adaptability to local realities are built into interventions. More emphasis on social science perspectives can also help link NTD control to broader social determinants of health, especially important given the major social and economic inequalities that continue to underpin transmission in endemic countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Bardosh
- Centre of African Studies, School of Social and Political Science, College of Humanities and Social Science, The University of Edinburgh, 58 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LD UK ; Division of Pathway Medicine and Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The University of Edinburgh, Chancellor's Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh, EH16 4SB UK
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de Leeuw E, Clavier C, Breton E. Health policy--why research it and how: health political science. Health Res Policy Syst 2014; 12:55. [PMID: 25248956 PMCID: PMC4246431 DOI: 10.1186/1478-4505-12-55] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2014] [Accepted: 09/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The establishment of policy is key to the implementation of actions for health. We review the nature of policy and the definition and directions of health policy. In doing so, we explicitly cast a health political science gaze on setting parameters for researching policy change for health. A brief overview of core theories of the policy process for health promotion is presented, and illustrated with empirical evidence. The key arguments are that (a) policy is not an intervention, but drives intervention development and implementation; (b) understanding policy processes and their pertinent theories is pivotal for the potential to influence policy change; (c) those theories and associated empirical work need to recognise the wicked, multi-level, and incremental nature of elements in the process; and, therefore, (d) the public health, health promotion, and education research toolbox should more explicitly embrace health political science insights. The rigorous application of insights from and theories of the policy process will enhance our understanding of not just how, but also why health policy is structured and implemented the way it is.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelyne de Leeuw
- />Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3000 Australia
| | - Carole Clavier
- />Département de Science Politique, Université du Québec à Montréal, Case postale 8888, succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec H3C 3P8 Canada
| | - Eric Breton
- />Ecole des Hautes Études en santé Publique (EHESP), Avenue du Professeur Léon-Bernard - CS 74312, 35043 Rennes cedex, France
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Lockett A, El Enany N, Currie G, Oborn E, Barrett M, Racko G, Bishop S, Waring J. A formative evaluation of Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC): institutional entrepreneurship for service innovation. HEALTH SERVICES AND DELIVERY RESEARCH 2014. [DOI: 10.3310/hsdr02310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
BackgroundCollaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs) are a time-limited funded initiative to form new service and research collaboratives in the English health system. Their aim is to bring together NHS organisations and universities to accelerate the translation of evidence-based innovation into clinical practice. In doing so, CLAHRCs are positioned to help close the second translation gap (T2), which is described as the problem of introducing and implementing new research and products into clinical practice.ObjectivesIn this study, we draw on ideas from institutional theory and institutional entrepreneurship to examine how actors may engage in reshaping existing institutional practices in order to support, and help sustain efforts to close the T2. Our objective was to understand how the institutional context shapes actors’ attempts to close the T2 by focusing on the CLAHRC initiative.MethodsThe study employed a longitudinal mixed-methods approach. Qualitative case studies combined interview data (174 in total across all nine CLAHRCs and the four in-depth sites), archival data and field notes from observations, over a 4-year period (2009–13). Staff central to the initiatives were interviewed, including CLAHRC senior managers; theme leads; and other higher education institution and NHS staff involved in CLAHRCs. Quantitative social network analysis (SNA) employed a web-based sociometric approach to capture actors’ own individual (i.e. ego) networks of interaction across two points in time (2011 and 2013) in the four in-depth sites, and their personal characteristics and roles.ResultsWe developed a process-based model of institutional entrepreneurship that encompassed the different types of work undertaken. First, ‘envisaging’ was the work undertaken by actors in developing an ‘embryonic’ vision of change, based on the interplay between themselves and the context in which they were situated. Second, ‘engaging’ was the work through which actors signed up key stakeholders to the CLAHRC. Third, ‘embedding’ was the work through which actors sought to reshape existing institutional practices so that they were more aligned with the ideals of CLAHRC. ‘Reflecting’ involved actors reconsidering their initial decisions, and learning from the process of establishing CLAHRCs. Furthermore, we employed the qualitative data to develop five different archetype models for organising knowledge translation, and considered under what founding conditions they are more or less likely to emerge. The quantitative SNA results suggested that actors’ networks changed over time, but that important institutional influences continued to constrain patterns of interactions of actors across different groups.ConclusionThe development of CLAHRCs holds important lessons for policy-makers. Policy-makers need to consider whether or not they set out a defined template for such translational initiatives, since the existence of institutional antecedents and the social position of actors acted to ‘lock in’ many CLAHRCs. Although antecedent conditions and the presence of pre-existing organisational relationships are important for the mobilisation of CLAHRCs, these same conditions may constrain radical change, innovation and the translation of research into practice. Future research needs to take account of the effects of institutional context, which helps explain why many initiatives may not fully achieve their desired aims.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy Lockett
- Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Warwick, UK
| | | | - Graeme Currie
- Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Warwick, UK
| | - Eivor Oborn
- Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Warwick, UK
| | - Michael Barrett
- Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Girts Racko
- Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Warwick, UK
| | - Simon Bishop
- Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Justin Waring
- Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
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Currie G, Burgess N, White L, Lockett A, Gladman J, Waring J. A qualitative study of the knowledge-brokering role of middle-level managers in service innovation: managing the translation gap in patient safety for older persons’ care. HEALTH SERVICES AND DELIVERY RESEARCH 2014. [DOI: 10.3310/hsdr02320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
BackgroundBrokering of evidence into service delivery is crucial for patient safety. We study knowledge brokering by ‘hybrid’ middle-level managers (H-MLMs), who hold responsibility for clinical service delivery as well as a managerial role, in the context of falls, medication management and transition, in care of older people.ObjectivesGenerate insight into processes and structures for brokering of patient safety knowledge (PSK) by H-MLMs.DesignWe utilise mixed methods: semistructured interviews, social network analysis, observation, documentary analysis, tracer studies and focus groups.SettingNHS East and NHS West Midlands.ParticipantsOne hundred and twenty-seven H-MLMs, senior managers and professionals, in three hospitals, and external producers of PSK.Main outcome measuresWhich H-MLMs broker what PSK, and why? (1) How do H-MLMs broker PSK? (2) What are contextual features for H-MLM knowledge brokering? (3) How can H-MLMs be enabled to broker PSK more effectively in older persons’ care?ResultsHealth-care organisations fail to leverage PSK for service improvement. Attempts by H-MLMs to broker PSK downwards or upwards are framed by policy directives and professional/managerial hierarchy. External performance targets and incentives compel H-MLMs in clinical governance to focus upon compliance. This diverts attention from pulling knowledge downwards, or upwards, for service improvement. Lower-status H-MLMs, closer to service delivery, struggle to push endogenous knowledge upwards, because they lack professional and managerial legitimacy. There is a difference between how PSK is brokered within ranks of nurses and doctors, due to differences in hierarchal characteristics. Rather than a ‘broker chain’ upwards and downwards, a ‘broken chain’ ensues, which constrains learning and service improvement.ConclusionsClinical governance is decoupled from service delivery. Brokering knowledge for service improvement is a ‘peopled’ activity in which H-MLMs are central. Intervention needs to mediate interprofessional and intraprofessional hierarchy, which, combined with compliance pressures, engender a ‘broken’ chain for applying PSK for service improvement, rather than a ‘brokering’ chain. Lower-status H-MLMs need to have their legitimacy and disposition enhanced to broker knowledge for service improvement. More informal ‘social mechanisms’ are required to complement clinical governance for development of a brokering chain. More research is needed to (1) examine why some H-MLMs are more disposed and able than others to broker PSK for service improvement, and (2) understand how knowledge brokering might be enhanced so that exogenous and endogenous knowledge is better fused for service improvement.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.
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Affiliation(s)
- Graeme Currie
- Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Nicola Burgess
- Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Leroy White
- Department of Management, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Andy Lockett
- Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - John Gladman
- Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Justin Waring
- Business School, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
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Intra-professional dynamics in translational health research: the perspective of social scientists. Soc Sci Med 2014; 114:81-8. [PMID: 24911511 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.05.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2013] [Revised: 04/18/2014] [Accepted: 05/27/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
In contrast to previous studies, which focus upon the professional dynamics of translational health research between clinician scientists and social scientists (inter-professional contestation), we focus upon contestation within social science (intra-professional contestation). Drawing on the empirical context of Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs) in England, we highlight that although social scientists accept subordination to clinician scientists, health services researchers attempt to enhance their position in translational health research vis-à-vis organisation scientists, whom they perceive as relative newcomers to the research domain. Health services researchers do so through privileging the practical impact of their research, compared to organisation scientists' orientation towards development of theory, which health services researchers argue is decoupled from any concern with healthcare improvement. The concern of health services researchers lies with maintaining existing patterns of resource allocation to support their research endeavours, working alongside clinician scientists, in translational health research. The response of organisation scientists is one that might be considered ambivalent, since, unlike health services researchers, they do not rely upon a close relationship with clinician scientists to carry out research, or more generally, garner resource.
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Maindal HT, Bonde A, Aagaard-Hansen J. Action research led to a feasible lifestyle intervention in general practice for people with prediabetes. Prim Care Diabetes 2014; 8:23-29. [PMID: 24361372 DOI: 10.1016/j.pcd.2013.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2013] [Revised: 11/07/2013] [Accepted: 11/28/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
AIM To develop and pilot a feasible lifestyle intervention for people with prediabetes tailored for general practice. The study was designed to explore (i) what resources and competencies would be required and (ii) which intervention components should be included. METHODS In the first of two action research cycles various interventions were explored in general practice. The second cycle tested the intervention described by the end of the first cycle. In total, 64 patients, 8 GPs and 10 nurses participated. RESULTS An intervention comprising six consultations to be delivered during the first year after identified prediabetes was found feasible by the general practice staff in terms of resources. Practice nurses possessed the adequate competences to undertake the core part of the intervention. The intervention comprised fixed elements according to structure, time consumption and educational principles, and flexible elements according to educational material and focus points for behaviour change. Clinical relevant reductions in patients' BMI and HbA1c were found. CONCLUSION A prediabetes lifestyle intervention for Danish general practice with potential for diabetes prevention was developed based on action research. The transferability of the developed intervention to other general practices depends on the GPs priorities, availability of practice nurses to deliver the core part, and the remuneration system for general practice. The long-term feasibility in larger patient populations is unknown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helle Terkildsen Maindal
- Section for Health Promotion and Health Services and Section of General Practice, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Denmark.
| | - Ane Bonde
- Steno Health Promotion Centre, Steno Diabetes Centre, Gentofte, Denmark.
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Urquhart R, Grunfeld E, Jackson L, Sargeant J, Porter G. Cross-disciplinary research in cancer: an opportunity to narrow the knowledge-practice gap. Curr Oncol 2013; 20:e512-21. [PMID: 24311951 PMCID: PMC3851347 DOI: 10.3747/co.20.1487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Health services researchers have consistently identified a gap between what is identified as "best practice" and what actually happens in clinical care. Despite nearly two decades of a growing evidence-based practice movement, narrowing the knowledge-practice gap continues to be a slow, complex, and poorly understood process. Here, we contend that cross-disciplinary research is increasingly relevant and important to reducing that gap, particularly research that encompasses the notion of transdisciplinarity, wherein multiple academic disciplines and non-academic individuals and groups are integrated into the research process. The assimilation of diverse perspectives, research approaches, and types of knowledge is potentially effective in helping research teams tackle real-world patient care issues, create more practice-based evidence, and translate the results to clinical and community care settings. The goals of this paper are to present and discuss cross-disciplinary approaches to health research and to provide two examples of how engaging in such research may optimize the use of research in cancer care.
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Affiliation(s)
- R. Urquhart
- Department of Surgery, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, and Division of Medical Education, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
| | - E. Grunfeld
- Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, and Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
| | - L. Jackson
- School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University; and Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
| | - J. Sargeant
- Continuing Medical Education, Dalhousie University; and Division of Medical Education, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
| | - G.A. Porter
- Department of Surgery, Dalhousie University; and Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS
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Morgan-Trimmer S. Improving Process Evaluations of Health Behavior Interventions: Learning From the Social Sciences. Eval Health Prof 2013; 38:295-314. [PMID: 24064427 DOI: 10.1177/0163278713497363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This article reflects on the current state of process evaluations of health behavior interventions and argues that evaluation practice in this area could be improved by drawing on the social science literature to a greater degree. While process evaluations of health behavior interventions have increasingly engaged with the social world and sociological aspects of interventions, there has been a lag in applying relevant and potentially useful approaches from the social sciences. This has limited the scope for health behavior process evaluations to address pertinent contextual issues and methodological challenges. Three aspects of process evaluations are discussed: the incorporation of contexts of interventions; engagement with the concept of "process" in process evaluation; and working with theory to understand interventions. Following on from this, the article also comments on the need for new methodologies and on the implications for addressing health inequalities.
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Gram AS, Bønnelycke J, Rosenkilde M, Reichkendler M, Auerbach P, Sjödin A, Ploug T, Jespersen A, Stallknecht B. Compliance with physical exercise: using a multidisciplinary approach within a dose-dependent exercise study of moderately overweight men. Scand J Public Health 2013; 42:38-44. [PMID: 24043395 DOI: 10.1177/1403494813504505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
AIMS Sixty-one healthy, sedentary, moderately overweight young men participated in a randomised controlled trial to examine the effects of two different doses of endurance exercise on health behaviour and exercise compliance. METHODS Participants were randomised to a sedentary control group, a moderate (MOD; 300 kcal/day) or a high-dose (HIGH; 600 kcal/day) endurance exercise group for 12 weeks. A sub-set of the subjects were interviewed using pre-determined, qualitative questions to elucidate physical activity and health behaviour. In combination with the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), a post hoc thematic analysis was conducted to connect qualitative and quantitative data in a joint analysis. RESULTS Of the subjects interviewed, exercise compliance expressed as 95% CI was [96.8; 103%] in the MOD group and [82.9; 99.6%] in the HIGH group. The different doses of daily exercise equally improved various metabolic health parameters. The MOD group was untroubled by the exercise load and had a positive attitude towards exercise. The HIGH group expressed increased fatigue, less positivity and perceived exercise as time-consuming. The MOD group described themselves as more energetic, and thereby may have increased physical activity levels in areas of their everyday lives that were not related to the intervention. CONCLUSIONS A multidisciplinary approach provided explanations for similar effects of two different doses of exercise. This could not have been determined via either qualitative or quantitative methodology alone. The preconditions of the TBP were fulfilled, and it represents a methodological model to explain the high degree of compliance and motivation to exercise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Sofie Gram
- 1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
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Yarcheski A, Mahon NE. Characteristics of Quantitative Nursing Research from 1990 to 2010. J Nurs Scholarsh 2013; 45:405-11. [DOI: 10.1111/jnu.12038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/19/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Adela Yarcheski
- Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau Professor College of Nursing Rutgers; The State University of New Jersey Newark; New Jersey 07102
| | - Noreen E. Mahon
- Kappa Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau Professor Emerita College of Nursing Rutgers; The State University of New Jersey Newark; New Jersey 07102
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Kitto S, Bell M, Peller J, Sargeant J, Etchells E, Reeves S, Silver I. Positioning continuing education: boundaries and intersections between the domains continuing education, knowledge translation, patient safety and quality improvement. ADVANCES IN HEALTH SCIENCES EDUCATION : THEORY AND PRACTICE 2013; 18:141-156. [PMID: 22167577 DOI: 10.1007/s10459-011-9340-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2011] [Accepted: 11/29/2011] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Public and professional concern about health care quality, safety and efficiency is growing. Continuing education, knowledge translation, patient safety and quality improvement have made concerted efforts to address these issues. However, a coordinated and integrated effort across these domains is lacking. This article explores and discusses the similarities and differences amongst the four domains in relation to their missions, stakeholders, methods, and limitations. This paper highlights the potential for a more integrated and collaborative partnership to promote networking and information sharing amongst the four domains. This potential rests on the premise that an integrated approach may result in the development and implementation of more holistic and effective interdisciplinary interventions. In conclusion, an outline of current research that is informed by the preliminary findings in this paper is also briefly discussed. The research concerns a comprehensive mapping of the relationships between the domains to gain an understanding of potential dissonances between how the domains represent themselves, their work and the work of their 'partner' domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Kitto
- CEPD, Wilson Centre and Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, 200 Elizabeth Street1ES-565, Toronto, ON M5G 2C4, Canada.
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‘I wouldn’t say it’s sexism, except that … It’s all these little subtle things’: Healthcare scientists’ accounts of gender in healthcare science laboratories. SOCIAL STUDIES OF SCIENCE 2013; 43:136-158. [PMCID: PMC3546634 DOI: 10.1177/0306312712460606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
We explore healthcare scientists’ accounts of men in healthcare science laboratories. By focussing on subtle masculinist actions that women find disadvantageous to them, we seek to extend knowledge about women’s under-representation in senior positions in healthcare science – despite women being in the majority at junior levels. We maintain that healthcare science continues to be dominated by taken-for-granted masculinities that marginalize women, keeping them in their ‘place’. Our aim is to make visible the subtle practices that are normally invisible by showing masculinities in action. Principally using feminist analyses, our findings show that both women and men are often unaware of taken-for-granted masculinist actions, and even when women do notice, they rarely challenge the subtle sexist behaviour.
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Abstract
CONTEXT Women are in the majority in terms of entry to medical schools worldwide and will soon represent the majority of working doctors. This has been termed the 'feminising' of medicine. In medical education, such gender issues tend to be restricted to discussions of demographic changes and structural inequalities based on a biological reading of gender. However, in contemporary social sciences, gender theory has moved beyond both biology and demography to include cultural issues of gendered ways of thinking. Can contemporary feminist thought drawn from the social sciences help medical educators to widen their appreciation and understanding of the feminising of medicine? DISCUSSION Post-structuralist feminist critique, drawn from the social sciences, focuses on cultural practices, such as language use, that support a dominant patriarchy. Such a critique is not exclusive to women, but may be described as supporting a tender-minded approach to practice that is shared by both women and men. The demographic feminising of medicine may have limited effect in terms of changing both medical culture and medical education practices without causing radical change to entrenched cultural habits that are best described as patriarchal. Medical education currently suffers from male biases, such as those imposed by 'andragogy', or adult learning theory, and these can be positively challenged through post-structuralist feminist critique. CONCLUSIONS Women doctors entering the medical workforce can resist and reformulate the current dominant patriarchy rather than reproducing it, supported by male feminists. Such a feminising of medicine can extend to medical education, but will require an appropriate theoretical framework to make sense of the new territory. The feminising of medical education informed by post-structuralist frameworks may provide a platform for the democratisation of medical culture and practices, further informing authentic patient-centred practices of care.
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Gachoud D, Albert M, Kuper A, Stroud L, Reeves S. Meanings and perceptions of patient-centeredness in social work, nursing and medicine: a comparative study. J Interprof Care 2012; 26:484-90. [PMID: 22928972 DOI: 10.3109/13561820.2012.717553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Answering patients' evolving, more complex needs has been recognized as a main incentive for the development of interprofessional care. Thus, it is not surprising that patient-centered practice (PCP) has been adopted as a major outcome for interprofessional education. Nevertheless, little research has focused on how PCP is perceived across the professions. This study aimed to address this issue by adopting a phenomenological approach and interviewing three groups of professionals: social workers (n = 10), nurses (n = 10) and physicians (n = 8). All the participants worked in the same department (the General Internal Medicine department of a university affiliated hospital). Although the participants agreed on a core meaning of PCP as identifying, understanding and answering patients' needs, they used many dimensions to define PCP. Overall, the participants expressed value for PCP as a philosophy of care, but there was the sense of a hierarchy of patient-centeredness across the professions, in which both social work and nursing regarded themselves as more patient-centered than others. On their side, physicians seemed inclined to accept their lower position in this hierarchy. Gieryn's concept of boundary work is employed to help illuminate the nature of PCP within an interprofessional context.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Gachoud
- Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne 1011, Switzerland.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Health concerns have driven the European environmental policies of the last 25 years, with issues becoming more complex. Addressing these concerns requires an approach that is both interdisciplinary and engages scientists with society. In response to this requirement, the FP6 coordination action "Health and Environment Network" HENVINET was set up to create a permanent inter-disciplinary network of professionals in the field of health and environment tasked to bridge the communication gap between science and society. In this paper we describe how HENVINET delivered on this task. METHODS The HENVINET project approached the issue of inter-disciplinary collaboration in four ways. (1) The Drivers-Pressures-State-Exposure-Effect-Action framework was used to structure information gathering, collaboration and communication between scientists in the field of health and the environment. (2) Interactive web-based tools were developed to enhance methods for knowledge evaluation, and use these methods to formulate policy advice. (3) Quantification methods were adapted to measure scientific agreement. And (4) Open architecture web technology was used to develop an information repository and a web portal to facilitate collaboration and communication among scientists. RESULTS Twenty-five organizations from Europe and five from outside Europe participated in the Health and Environment Network HENVINET, which lasted for 3.5 years. The consortium included partners in environmental research, public health and veterinary medicine; included medical practitioners and representatives of local administrations; and had access to national policy making and EEA and WHO expertise. Dedicated web-based tools for visualisation of environmental health issues and knowledge evaluation allowed remote expert elicitation, and were used as a basis for developing policy advice in five health areas (asthma and allergies; cancer; neurodevelopmental disorders; endocrine disruption; and engineered nanoparticles in the environment). An open searchable database of decision support tools was established and populated. A web based social networking tool was developed to enhance collaboration and communication between scientists and society. CONCLUSIONS HENVINET addressed key issues that arise in inter-disciplinary research on health and environment and in communicating research results to policy makers and society. HENVINET went beyond traditional scientific tools and methods to bridge the communication gap between science and policy makers. The project identified the need for a common framework and delivered it. It developed and implemented a variety of novel methods and tools and, using several representative examples, demonstrated the process of producing politically relevant scientific advice based on an open participation of experts. It highlighted the need for, and benefits of, a liaison between health and environment professionals and professionals in the social sciences and liberal arts. By adopting critical complexity thinking, HENVINET extended the traditional approach to environment and health research, and set the standard for current approaches to bridge the gap between science and society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alena Bartonova
- NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research, POB 100, 2027 Kjeller, Norway.
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Rock MJ, McIntyre L, Persaud SA, Thomas KL. A media advocacy intervention linking health disparities and food insecurity. HEALTH EDUCATION RESEARCH 2011; 26:948-960. [PMID: 21685402 PMCID: PMC3219881 DOI: 10.1093/her/cyr043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2010] [Accepted: 04/28/2011] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Media advocacy is a well-established strategy for transmitting health messages to the public. This paper discusses a media advocacy intervention that raised issues about how the public interprets messages about the negative effects of poverty on population health. In conjunction with the publication of a manuscript illustrating how income-related food insecurity leads to disparities related to the consumption of a popular food product across Canada (namely, Kraft Dinner®), we launched a media intervention intended to appeal to radio, television, print and Internet journalists. All the media coverage conveyed our intended message that food insecurity is a serious population health problem, confirming that message framing, personal narratives and visual imagery are important in persuading media outlets to carry stories about poverty as a determinant of population health. Among politicians and members of the public (through on-line discussions), the coverage provoked on-message as well as off-message reactions. Population health researchers and health promotion practitioners should anticipate mixed reactions to media advocacy interventions, particularly in light of new Internet technologies. Opposition to media stories regarding the socio-economic determinants of population health can provide new insights into how we might overcome challenges in translating evidence into preventive interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie J Rock
- Population Health Intervention Research Centre, Calgary Institute for Population and Public Health, University of Calgary, 3280 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB, Canada.
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Morgan M, Barry CA, Donovan JL, Sandall J, Wolfe CD, Boaz A. Implementing ‘translational’ biomedical research: Convergence and divergence among clinical and basic scientists. Soc Sci Med 2011; 73:945-52. [DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.06.060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2010] [Revised: 06/10/2011] [Accepted: 06/21/2011] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Abstract
Obesity is widely recognized as a health risk, but it also represents a disadvantaged social position. Viewing body weight within the framework of stigma and its effects on life chances, we examine how perceived weight-based discrimination influences identity and physical health. Using national survey data with a 10-year longitudinal follow-up, we consider whether perceptions of weight discrimination shape weight perceptions, whether perceived weight discrimination exacerbates the health risks of obesity, and whether weight perceptions are the mechanism explaining why perceived weight discrimination is damaging to health. Perceived weight discrimination is found to be harmful, increasing the health risks of obesity associated with functional disability and, to a lesser degree, self-rated health. Findings also reveal that weight-based stigma shapes weight perceptions, which mediate the relationship between perceived discrimination and health.
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How do we collaborate? Social science researchers’ experience of multidisciplinarity in biomedical settings. BIOSOCIETIES 2010. [DOI: 10.1057/biosoc.2010.7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Bullock A. Dental education as a social science: some implications for research. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION : OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR DENTAL EDUCATION IN EUROPE 2010; 14:65-68. [PMID: 20522104 DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0579.2010.00626.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
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Abstract
CONTEXT The growing popularity of less familiar methodologies in medical education research, and the use of related data collection methods, has made it timely to revisit some basic assumptions regarding knowledge and evidence. METHODS This paper outlines four major research paradigms and examines the methodological questions that underpin the development of knowledge through medical education research. DISCUSSION This paper explores the rationale behind different research designs, and shows how the underlying research philosophy of a study can directly influence what is captured and reported. It also explores the interpretivist perspective in some depth to show how less familiar paradigm perspectives can provide useful insights to the complex questions generated by modern healthcare practice. CONCLUSIONS This paper concludes that the quality of research is defined by the integrity and transparency of the research philosophy and methods, rather than the superiority of any one paradigm. By demonstrating that different methodological approaches deliberately include and exclude different types of data, this paper highlights how competing knowledge philosophies have practical implications for the findings of a study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne Bunniss
- Department of General Practice Section, NHS Education for Scotland, Glasgow, UK.
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von Unger H, Werwick K, Lichte T, Herrmann M. Learning about general practice through qualitative interviews: lessons from a seminar course with medical students. MEDICAL TEACHER 2010; 32:e127-e132. [PMID: 20218828 DOI: 10.3109/01421590903449902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A seminar course was developed in order to train medical students in qualitative research methods, while providing an introduction to the field of General Practice. Students were enabled to conduct semi-structured interviews with general practitioners (GPs), during which they learned about the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of frequently encountered medical problems. The course was carried out four times at two universities in Germany. AIMS The study explores the students' learning experiences focusing on their research experience. METHODS Data were collected in four focus groups and analyzed. RESULTS The students perceived the course as very different from their usual medical education. This was appreciated, but also caused some difficulties. Three themes emerged: (1) Missing 'facts', (2) New horizons: 'Thinking outside the box', and (3) The challenge of interpretation: 'Reading between the lines'. CONCLUSIONS Learning qualitative research methods can be particularly challenging for medical students as the tasks and epistemology of qualitative research run counter to the usual learning formats and research paradigms in medical education. When teaching qualitative research, special care should be taken to address the cognitive dissonance experienced by students and to explain the unique contribution of qualitative research to medical practice and the field of General Practice especially.
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Laberge S, Albert M, Hodges BD. Perspectives of clinician and biomedical scientists on interdisciplinary health research. CMAJ 2009; 181:797-803. [PMID: 19901042 DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.090661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Interdisciplinary health research is a priority of many funding agencies. We surveyed clinician and biomedical scientists about their views on the value and funding of interdisciplinary health research. METHODS We conducted semistructured interviews with 31 biomedical and 30 clinician scientists. The scientists were selected from the 2000-2006 membership lists of peer-review committees of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. We investigated respondents' perspectives on the assumption that collaboration across disciplines adds value to health research. We also investigated their perspectives on funding agencies' growing support of interdisciplinary research. RESULTS The 61 respondents expressed a wide variety of perspectives on the value of interdisciplinary health research, ranging from full agreement (22) to complete disagreement (11) that it adds value; many presented qualified viewpoints (28). More than one-quarter viewed funding agencies' growing support of interdisciplinary research as appropriate. Most (44) felt that the level of support was unwarranted. Arguments included the belief that current support leads to the creation of artificial teams and that a top-down process of imposing interdisciplinary structures on teams constrains scientists' freedom. On both issues we found contrasting trends between the clinician and the biomedical scientists. INTERPRETATION Despite having some positive views about the value of interdisciplinary research, scientists, especially biomedical scientists, expressed reservations about the growing support of interdisciplinary research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne Laberge
- Department of Kinesiology (Laberge), Université de Montréal, CP 6128, succ. Centre-ville, Montréal QC H3C 3J7.
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44
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Monrouxe LV, Rees CE. Picking up the gauntlet: constructing medical education as a social science. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2009; 43:196-8. [PMID: 19250344 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.2008.03272.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Lynn V Monrouxe
- Divisionof Medical Education, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Room 158 Upper Ground Floor, B-C Link Corridor, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK.
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Rock M, Buntain BJ, Hatfield JM, Hallgrímsson B. Animal-human connections, "one health," and the syndemic approach to prevention. Soc Sci Med 2009; 68:991-5. [PMID: 19157669 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.12.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
A syndemic involves two or more afflictions that, by interacting synergistically, contribute to excess burdens of disease. A syndemic approach to prevention, meanwhile, focuses on connections among health-related problems, considers those connections when developing health policies, and aligns with forces for social change. In this short report, we expand the syndemic concept to acknowledge the extent to which animal health connects with human health and, with reference to existing publications, we demonstrate the pertinence of this expanded definition for a syndemic approach to prevention. Our demonstration assumes practical importance in relation to the concept of 'one health', which many prominent veterinary and human health scientists have recently endorsed as a sound basis for redressing human diseases, animal diseases, and environmental degradation worldwide. While social scientists have mostly ignored animal health, few 'one health' proponents have emphasized social conditions or involved social scientists. By explicitly accommodating animal-human connections in our expanded conceptualization of a syndemic, we hope to help create a space in which human health, veterinary, and social scientists may learn from one another, collaborate in research, and cooperate to clear the way for innovations in prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Rock
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
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