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Trisha Greenhalgh

Publications and source records attributed to Trisha Greenhalgh.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

"Not a university type": focus group study of social class, ethnic, and sex differences in school pupils' perceptions about medical school.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate what going to medical school means to academically able 14-16 year olds from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds in order to understand the wide socioeconomic variation in applications to medical school. DESIGN: Focus group study. SETTING: Six London secondary schools. PARTICIPANTS: 68 academically able and scientifically oriented pupils aged 14-16 years from a wide range of social and ethnic backgrounds. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pupils' perceptions of medical school, motivation to apply, confidence in ability to stay the course, expectations of medicine as a career, and perceived sources of information and support. RESULTS: There were few differences by sex or ethnicity, but striking differences by socioeconomic status. Pupils from lower socioeconomic groups held stereotyped and superficial perceptions of doctors, saw medical school as culturally alien and geared towards "posh" students, and greatly underestimated their own chances of gaining a place and staying the course. They saw medicine as having extrinsic rewards (money) but requiring prohibitive personal sacrifices. Pupils from affluent backgrounds saw medicine as one of a menu of challenging career options with intrinsic rewards (fulfillment, achievement). All pupils had concerns about the costs of study, but only those from poor backgrounds saw costs as constraining their choices. CONCLUSIONS: Underachievement by able pupils from poor backgrounds may be more to do with identity, motivation, and the cultural framing of career choices than with low levels of factual knowledge. Policies to widen participation in medical education must go beyond a knowledge deficit model and address the complex social and cultural environment within which individual life choices are embedded.

Adolescent↗

Soft networks for bridging the gap between research and practice: illuminative evaluation of CHAIN.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the process of knowledge exchange in an informal email network for evidence based health care, to illuminate the value of the service and its critical success factors, and to identify areas for improvement. DESIGN: Illuminative evaluation. SETTING: Targeted email and networking service for UK healthcare practitioners and researchers. PARTICIPANTS: 2800 members of a networking service. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Tracking of email messages, interviews with core staff, and a qualitative analysis of messages, postings from focus groups, and invited and unsolicited feedback to the service. RESULTS: The informal email network helped to bridge the gap between research and practice by serving as a rich source of information, providing access to members' experiences, suggestions, and ideas, facilitating cross boundary collaboration, and enabling participation in networking at a variety of levels. Ad hoc groupings and communities of practice emerged spontaneously as members discovered common areas of interest. CONCLUSION: This study illuminated how knowledge for evidence based health care can be targeted, personalised, and made meaningful through informal social processes. Critical success factors include a broad based membership from both the research and service communities; a loose and fluid network structure; tight targeting of messages based on members' interests; the presence of a strong network identity and culture of reciprocity; and the opportunity for new members to learn through passive participation.

Attitude to Computers↗

Diffusion of innovations in service organizations: systematic review and recommendations.

This article summarizes an extensive literature review addressing the question, How can we spread and sustain innovations in health service delivery and organization? It considers both content (defining and measuring the diffusion of innovation in organizations) and process (reviewing the literature in a systematic and reproducible way). This article discusses (1) a parsimonious and evidence-based model for considering the diffusion of innovations in health service organizations, (2) clear knowledge gaps where further research should be focused, and (3) a robust and transferable methodology for systematically reviewing health service policy and management. Both the model and the method should be tested more widely in a range of contexts.

Diffusion of Innovation↗

A comparative case study of two models of a clinical informaticist service.

OBJECTIVES: To describe and evaluate two different models of a clinical informaticist service. DESIGN: A case study approach, using various qualitative methods to illuminate the complexity of the project groups' experiences. SETTING: UK primary health care. INTERVENTIONS: Two informaticist projects to provide evidence based answers to questions arising in clinical practice and thereby support high quality clinical decision making by practitioners. RESULTS: The projects took contrasting and complementary approaches to establishing the service. One was based in an academic department of primary health care. The service was academically highly rigorous, remained true to its original proposal, included a prominent research component, and involved relatively little personal contact with practitioners. This group achieved the aim of providing general information and detailed guidance to others intending to set up a similar service. The other group was based in a service general practice and took a much more pragmatic, flexible, and facilitative approach. They achieved the aim of a credible, acceptable, and sustainable service that engaged local practitioners beyond the innovators and enthusiasts and secured continued funding. CONCLUSION: An informaticist service should be judged on at least two aspects of quality---an academic dimension (the technical quality of the evidence based answers) and a service dimension (the facilitation of questioning behaviour and implementation). This study suggests that, while the former may be best achieved within an academic environment, the latter requires a developmental approach in which pragmatic service considerations are addressed.

Decision Support Systems, Clinical↗

Integrating qualitative research into evidence based practice.

This article attempts to provide an overview of qualitative tools and methods using mainly examples from diabetes research. The other articles in this issue of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America have demonstrated the enormous contribution made in the past 15 years or so by rigorous quantitative studies of prevalence, diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy to clinical decision-making in endocrinology. In the early 21st century, the state of qualitative research into such topics as the illness experience of diabetes; the barriers to effective self care and positive health choices; the design of complex educational interventions; the design of appropriate, acceptable and responsive health services; and the decision-making behavior of health professionals, is such that there remain many more questions than answers. But qualitative research is increasingly recognized as an important, legitimate and expanding dimension of evidence-based health care (18;19). It is highly likely that the major landmark studies in diabetes care over the next decade will build on an exploratory qualitative study or incorporate an explanatory or evaluative dimension based on qualitative methods.

Endocrinology↗

Selling drugs.

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Advertising↗

Intuition and evidence--uneasy bedfellows?

Intuition is a decision-making method that is used unconsciously by experienced practitioners but is inaccessible to the novice. It is rapid, subtle, contextual, and does not follow simple, cause-and-effect logic. Evidence-based medicine offers exciting opportunities_for improving patient outcomes, but the 'evidence-burdened' approach of the inexperienced, protocol-driven clinician is well documented Intuition is not unscientific. It is a highly creative process, fundamental to hypothesis generation in science. The experienced practitioner should generate and follow clinical hunches as well as (not instead of applying the deductive principles of evidence-based medicine. The educational research literature suggests that we can improve our intuitive powers through systematic critical reflection about intuitive judgements--for example, through creative writing and dialogue with professional colleagues. It is time to revive and celebrate clinical storytelling as a method for professional education and development. The stage is surely set for a new, improved--and, indeed, evidence-based--'Balint'group.

Decision Making↗

Retraction

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Journal Article↗