Research Approaches In Primary Care

This work provides an overview of the difficult research methods available in primary care. explains how to find an appropriate method. It indicates when specialist advice is needed and where to find it and exercises are included to encourage readers to check their understanding.

This practical ‘How To’ guide talks the reader step-by-step through designing, conducting and disseminating primary care research, a growing discipline internationally. The vast majority of health care issues are experienced by people in community settings, who are not adequately represented by hospital-based research. There is therefore a great need to upskill family physicians and other primary care workers and academics to conduct community-based research to inform best practice. Aimed at emerging researchers, including those in developing countries, this book also addresses cutting edge and newly developing research methods, which will be of equal interest to more experienced researchers.

Primary Care Research covers traditional medical-epidemiological methods and non-traditional qualitative methods which are relevant to the discipline of primary medical care - defined as the medical care of first contact. More than just a summary of research methods, many chapters contain examples that can serve as models for readers planning studies of their own. Other chapters deal with the standards appropriate to primary care research. Included are such topics as refining the research question, how the question dictates the method used, epidemiologic standards, case study methods and combining methods in research.

This book is designed to introduce a basic range of research skills relevant to primary care.

"What is going to happen to me?" Most patients ask this question during a clinical encounter with a health professional. As well as learning what problem they have (diagnosis) and what needs to be done about it (treatment), patients want to know about their future health and wellbeing (prognosis). Prognosis research can provide answers to this question and satisfy the need for individuals to understand the possible outcomes of their condition, with and without treatment. Central to modern medical practise, the topic of prognosis is the basis of decision making in healthcare and policy development. It translates basic and clinical science into practical care for patients and populations. Prognosis Research in Healthcare: Concepts, Methods and Impact provides a comprehensive overview of the field of prognosis and prognosis research and gives a global perspective on how prognosis research and prognostic information can improve the outcomes of healthcare. It details how to design, carry out, analyse and report prognosis studies, and how prognostic information can be the basis for tailored, personalised healthcare. In particular, the book discusses how information about the characteristics of people, their health, and environment can be used to predict an individual's future health. Prognosis Research in Healthcare: Concepts, Methods and Impact, addresses all types of prognosis research and provides a practical step-by-step guide to undertaking and interpreting prognosis research studies, ideal for medical students, health researchers, healthcare professionals and methodologists, as well as for guideline and policy makers in healthcare wishing to learn more about the field of prognosis.

Primary care is a rapidly growing academic branch of learning and developing its own body of research is the hallmark of a maturing academic discipline. This practical guide is the first designed specifically to support those planning, conducting and disseminating primary care educational research. While research informs clinical practice, organisation of primary care services and teaching the discipline, educational practices and modes of delivery are rapidly changing, particularly in response to new information technologies. Primary care practitioners must be engaged in life-long learning and keep abreast of developments in many arenas and educational research into how to address this has thus become of paramount importance. Key Features: The first ‘how-to’ guide to designing, conducting and disseminating primary care educational research Focus on inter-professional education, co-design and participatory research approaches, in line with current primary care models of care involving inter-disciplinary teams Wide in scope, exploring the current research environment in the contexts of undergraduate teaching, postgraduate training, continuing professional development, and patient education, for academics and educationalists at all levels Step-by-step introduction to the processes of literature review (establishing the existing knowledge base), choosing a topic, research questions and methodology, conducting research and disseminating results Supported by the WONCA Working Parties on Research and Education This book will encourage and upskill academics at universities and institutions teaching primary care in both undergraduate and postgraduate settings, providing support and guidance on how to conduct their own research and evaluate their own programmes, and will help to grow academic research in this discipline in high and, importantly, also low- and middle-income countries.

Popular in its first edition for its clear delineation of the issues and the way it prepared readers for Doing Qualitative Research, particularly in health settings, this new second edition will show readers new ways of knowing, how to ask questions at multiple system levels (from global to family to the cell) and the incursive interaction between these levels, and ways to expand existing research approaches. New to this edition is more on various collection methods as well as more detail on the interpretive process. Chapters are written by a gifted researchers, many of whom are also clinicians, who define their topic, reveal themselves and the context of their discussion, define the key themes and processes, provide interesting descriptive examples, explore theory, recognize the importance of culture, and share their excitement of discovery. Organized to follow the structure of the qualitative research process, the book begins with an overview of how to decide what methods to use based on aims, objectives, questions, and paradigms of knowing. New, sampling issues and options are highlighted followed by comprehensive coverage of such topics as participant observation, key information interviewing, depth interviews, focus groups, the interpretive process, detailed descriptions of actual analyses using different analysis organizing styles, and the use of computer software for qualitative data management that includes a detailed demonstration of two particular programs, NUD*IST and FolioViews. The last sections of the book covers specific qualitative designs that are relevant to primary care research, a summary of our present understandings concerning standards in qualitative research, and the role of qualitative research in the future of primary care research.

This is an essential, accessible introduction to the practicalities of research and evidence-based practice aimed at all pre-registration nursing and healthcare students. It places research and evidence in the context of clinical practice, introduces the main methodological approaches in qualitative and quantitative research, and describes the processes of research appraisal, dissemination and implementation. The new edition of Research for Evidence-Based Practice in Healthcare has been updated to include information for a broader health care audience. It engages students with the research and evidence agenda, demonstrates the relevance of research and evidence to nursing practice, and provides the skills needed to explore these areas in greater detail. Special features: · A practical guide to research methods and evidence-based practice · New edition of a successful student textbook · Includes a glossary of common research terms · Provides case studies, key points, further reading, and activities throughout · Accompanying website with links to further reading