Qualitative Health Research Articles

17th Qualitative Health Research Conference: “Research for Change: Impacting Society through Qualitative Research”

17^th Qualitative Health Research Conference: <i>“Research for Change: Impacting Society through Qualitative Research”</i>

Investigación cualitativa en salud: una revisión crítica de la producción bibliográfica en México

This paper critically examines recent work on qualitative health research (QHR) in Mexico. A review was conducted of 128 articles published between 2000 and 2009. A literature search was done drawing together a verse of indexes, search engine, data bases and citations, as well as interviewing researchers. A frequency and content analysis was carried out. QHR has expanded significantly, both nationally and internationally, and papers published in public health and social medicine journals. However, several factors impede its consolidation: the institutional, territorial and thematic concentration of studies, the dependency on grounded theory, the selective nature of the research topics and populations; and its marginal scientific impact. QHR has grown in México, but its consolidation faces serious challenges. Several proposals are discussed that could strengthen the field.

17th Qualitative Health Research Conference: “Research for Change: Impacting Society through Qualitative Research”

17^th Qualitative Health Research Conference: <i>“Research for Change: Impacting Society through Qualitative Research”</i>

17th Qualitative Health Research Conference: “Research for Change: Impacting Society through Qualitative Research”

17^th Qualitative Health Research Conference: <i>“Research for Change: Impacting Society through Qualitative Research”</i>

Qualitative environmental health research: an analysis of the literature, 1991-2008

Qualitative research uses nonnumeric data to understand people's opinions, motives, understanding, and beliefs about events or phenomena. In this analysis, I report the use of qualitative methods and data in the study of the relationship between environmental exposures and human health. A primary search for peer-reviewed journal articles dated from 1991 through 2008 included the following three terms: qualitative, environ*, and health. Searches resulted in 3,155 records. Data were extracted and findings of articles analyzed to determine where and by whom qualitative environmental health research is conducted and published, the types of methods and analyses used in qualitative studies of environmental health, and the types of information qualitative data contribute to environmental health. The results highlight a diversity of disciplines and techniques among researchers who used qualitative methods to study environmental health. Nearly all of the studies identified increased scientific understanding of lay perceptions of environmental health exposures. This analysis demonstrates the potential of qualitative data to improve understanding of complex exposure pathways, including the influence of social factors on environmental health, and health outcomes.

Methods of synthesizing qualitative research studies for health technology assessment

Synthesizing qualitative research is an important means of ensuring the needs, preferences, and experiences of patients are taken into account by service providers and policy makers, but the range of methods available can appear confusing. This study presents the methods for synthesizing qualitative research most used in health research to-date and, specifically those with a potential role in health technology assessment. To identify reviews conducted using the eight main methods for synthesizing qualitative studies, nine electronic databases were searched using key terms including meta-ethnography and synthesis. A summary table groups the identified reviews by their use of the eight methods, highlighting the methods used most generally and specifically in relation to health technology assessment topics. Although there is debate about how best to identify and quality appraise qualitative research for synthesis, 107 reviews were identified using one of the eight main methods. Four methods (meta-ethnography, meta-study, meta-summary, and thematic synthesis) have been most widely used and have a role within health technology assessment. Meta-ethnography is the leading method for synthesizing qualitative health research. Thematic synthesis is also useful for integrating qualitative and quantitative findings. Four other methods (critical interpretive synthesis, grounded theory synthesis, meta-interpretation, and cross-case analysis) have been under-used in health research and their potential in health technology assessments is currently under-developed. Synthesizing individual qualitative studies has becoming increasingly common in recent years. Although this is still an emerging research discipline such an approach is one means of promoting the patient-centeredness of health technology assessments.

Introducing the First Global Congress for Qualitative Health Research

In this plenary address, I introduce the Global Congress for Qualitative Health Research, its purpose, and its role internationally. Within this context, I explore the origins and development of qualitative health research, the content of qualitative health research, its components, and its contribution to health research. I argue that qualitative inquiry develops in levels, building from exploration and description of phenomena to the identification of concepts, the theoretical basis for quantitative inquiry, qualitative theory development, and to utilization, implementation, and evaluation. This incremental development is not purposefully planned, but occurs as a result of voluminous inquiry into similar topics using different qualitative approaches and designs. A single study rarely makes a breakthrough; rather, we must recognize the conglomerate of qualitative studies that give it validity and strength. The Global Congress for Qualitative Health Research will provide a forum for international collaboration for the development of qualitative health research.

Learning: What Matters Most

Dr Jensen is a leader known nationally and internationally for her scholarly contributions related to expert practice, clinical reasoning, professional ethics, and educational theory and application. Although her vision and work often center on physical therapy, she reaches beyond the profession to have an impact on health professions and higher education more broadly. She has served on several editorial boards, including Physical Therapy and the Journal of Physical Therapy Education , and is currently deputy editor for Physiotherapy Research International and Associate Editor for Physiotherapy Theory and Practice and is on the editorial board of Qualitative Health Research . Dr Jensen is author or coauthor of more than 60 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has coauthored 9 books, most recently Leadership in Interprofessional Health Education and Practice , Expertise in Physical Therapy Practice (2nd edition), Educating for Moral Action: A Sourcebook in Health and Rehabilitation Ethics , and the forthcoming third edition of Handbook of Teaching for Physical Therapists . Dr Jensen has received funding from federal, state, and foundation grants totaling more than $2 million, always with a strong commitment to collaborative, community-based work both within and across disciplines. Dr Jensen received her PhD in educational evaluation with a minor in sociology from Stanford University. She holds a master's degree in physical therapy from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Minnesota. During her career, she has held faculty appointments at Stanford University, Temple University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Samuel Merritt University, and Creighton University. Dr Jensen is Dean of the Graduate School, Associate Vice President for Research, Academic Affairs, Professor of Physical Therapy, and Faculty Associate, Center for Health Policy and Ethics, Creighton University. Her clinical practice has centered on orthopedic practice, and she has served as a member of the …

Transitioning from Clinical to Qualitative Research Interviewing

In this paper one aspect of the transition that must be made by experienced clinicians who become involved in conducting qualitative health research is examined, specifically, the differences between clinical and research interviewing. A clinician who is skillful and comfortable carrying out a clinical interview may not initially apprehend the important differences between these categories and contexts of interviewing. This situation can lead to difficulties and diminished quality of data collection because the purpose, techniques and orientation of a qualitative research interview are distinct from those of the clinical interview. Appreciation of these differences between interview contexts and genres, and strategies for addressing challenges associated with these differences, can help clinician researchers to become successful qualitative interviewers.

Points of Hesitation

Qualitative health research has long had as one of its mantras a commitment to, and focus on, human rights and social justice. However over time, it is possible that such centrality can have the effect of creating a sense of the familiar, and with such familiarity assumptions about how human rights and social justice are being advanced through the process of qualitative inquiry. A sense of comfort or even complacency can emerge that may sometimes obstruct or prevent us from pausing to think deeply and re-examine these assumptions and how they impact on our thinking and actions as qualitative researchers. This paper aims to surface questions designed to produce points of hesitation able to assist in exploring the critical issue of how qualitative research does, and might, fit with an agenda based around the advancement of human rights and social justice. Using examples from my own research I explore and reflect on issues that have troubled me and subsequently forced me to hesitate and think deeply about what may have seemed self evident or given.

Molding Qualitative Health Research

Molding Qualitative Health Research

Ethical and practical challenges of participant observation in sensitive health research

Participant observation is now increasingly used within qualitative health research and has been found to offer opportunities for the collection and synthesis of rich data about health and illness experience. This method, often used over an extended period, enables the researcher to build an in‐depth understanding of the research context and can be the basis for the development of relationships between the researcher and the ‘researched’. Researcher familiarity in the field, however, can give rise to ethical and practical tensions. This article reports on the ethical and practical challenges of participant observation at a cancer drop‐in centre focusing on issues connected to the dual role of the researcher as both volunteer and researcher. It highlights the methodological practice of reflexivity as one way of the researcher maintaining an ongoing ethically engaged presence in the field.

A qualitative assessment tool for ecologically based stormwater systems

A qualitative ecological health assessment was developed for application to ecologically designed stormwater systems to enhance post-implementation monitoring and maintenance efforts. The assessment was based on qualitative soil and rangeland assessments from the literature. The assessment was applied to two stormwater systems in northeastern Kansas, both of which were designed after the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. One of the sites was a stormwater basin with well-established prairie grasses; the other was reseeded with prairie grasses at the beginning of the study period. With the difference in vegetation age at the sites, the sensitivity of the assessment to vegetative and ecological maturity could be ascertained. An overall health score was determined based on observations of the vegetation, soil health, erosion indicators, and fauna at the site. In general, ecological health scores at the older, more established site were higher, indicating that the ecological health, and presumably the functionality of the system, improves over time. Observations at both sites point to the need for maintenance regimes that will ensure the continuance of ecosystem processes. Initial results indicated that the application of an ecological health assessment such as the one developed for this study could help in making post-installation monitoring efforts more successful.

Reliability assessments in qualitative health promotion research

This article contributes to the debate about the use of reliability assessments in qualitative research in general, and health promotion research in particular. In this article, I examine the use of reliability assessments in qualitative health promotion research in response to health promotion researchers' commonly held misconception that reliability assessments improve the rigor of qualitative research. All qualitative articles published in the journal Health Promotion International from 2003 to 2009 employing reliability assessments were examined. In total, 31.3% (20/64) articles employed some form of reliability assessment. The use of reliability assessments increased over the study period, ranging from <20% in 2003/2004 to 50% and above in 2008/2009, while at the same time the total number of qualitative articles decreased. The articles were then classified into four types of reliability assessments, including the verification of thematic codes, the use of inter-rater reliability statistics, congruence in team coding and congruence in coding across sites. The merits of each type were discussed, with the subsequent discussion focusing on the deductive nature of reliable thematic coding, the limited depth of immediately verifiable data and the usefulness of such studies to health promotion and the advancement of the qualitative paradigm.

Researching Sexual Abuse: Methodological Issues

Researching Sexual Abuse: Methodological Issues

The SAGE handbook of qualitative methods in health research

Introduction PART ONE: CONTRIBUTIONS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH There's More to Dying Than Death: Qualitative Research on the End-of-Life - Stefan Timmermans Healer-Patient Interaction: New Mediations in Clinical Relationships - Arthur W. Frank, Michael K. Corman, Jessica A. Gish and Paul Lawton Qualitative Contributions to the Study of Health Professions and Their Work - Johanne Collin Why Use Qualitative Methods to Study Health-Care Organizations? Insights from Multilevel Case Studies - Carol A. Caronna How Country Matters: Studying Health Policy in a Comparative Perspective - Sirpa Wrede Exploring Social Inequalities in Health: The Importance of Thinking Qualitatively - Gareth Williams and Eva Elliott PART TWO: THEORY Theory Matters in Qualitative Health Research - Mita Giacomini Ethnographic Approaches to Health and Development Research: The Contributions of Anthropology - Rebecca Prentice What Is Grounded Theory and Where Does It Come from? - Dorothy Pawluch and Elena Neiterman Qualitative Methods from Psychology - Helen Malson Conversation Analysis and Ethnomethodology: The Centrality of Interaction - Timothy Halkowski and Virginia Teas Gill Phenomenology - Carol L. McWilliam Studying Organizations: The Revival of Institutionalism - Karen Staniland History and Social Change in Health and Medicine - Claire Hooker PART THREE: COLLECTING AND ANALYZING DATA Qualitative Research Review and Synthesis - Jennie Popay and Sara Mallinson Qualitative Interviewing Techniques and Styles - Susan E. Kelly Focus Groups - Rosaline S. Barbour Fieldwork and Participant Observation - Davina Allen Video-Based Conversation Analysis - Ruth Parry Practising Discourse Analysis in Healthcare Settings - Srikant Sarangi Documents in Health Research - Lindsay Prior Participatory Action Research: Theoretical Perspectives on the Challenges of Researching Action - Louise Potvin, Sherri L. Bisset and Leah Walz Qualitative Research in Programme Evaluation - Isobel MacPherson and Linda McKie Auto-Ethnography: Making Sense of Personal Illness Journeys - Elizabeth Ettore Institutional Ethnography - Marie L. Campbell Visual Methods for Collecting and Analysing Data - Susan E. Bell Keyword Analysis: A New Tool for Qualitative Research - Clive Seale and Jonathan Charteris-Black PART FOUR: ISSUES IN QUALITATIVE HEALTH RESEARCH Recognizing Quality in Qualitative Research - Kath M. Melia Mixed Methods Involving Qualitative Research - Alicia O'Cathain A Practical Guide to Research Ethics - Laura Stark and Adam Hedgecoe Using Qualitative Research Methods to Inform Health Policy: The Case of Public Deliberation - Julia Abelson Cross National Qualitative Health Research - Carine Vassy and Richard Keller PART FIVE: APPLYING QUALITATIVE METHODS Researching Reproduction Qualitatively: Intersections of Personal and Political - Kereen Reiger and Pranee Liamputtong Understanding the Shaping, Incorporation and Co-Ordination of Health Technologies through Qualitative Research - Tiago Moreira and Tim Rapley Transgressive Pleasures: Undertaking Qualitative Research in the Radsex Domain - Dave Holmes, Patrick O'Byrne and Denise Gastaldo The Challenges and Opportunities of Qualitative Health Research with Children - Ilina Singh and Sinead Keenan The Dilemmas of Advocacy: The Paradox of Giving in Disability Research - Ruth Pinder Qualitative Approaches for Studying Environmental Health - Phil Brown

Procédure de suivi d’une cohorte d’enfants FIV. Intérêts et limites de l’outil développé pour un suivi longitudinal et monocentrique

Background Follow-up of in vitro fertilization (IVF) children is recommended by the French health authorities. Follow-up procedures were set-up in a medically assisted reproduction unit at the Saint-Joseph Hospital in Marseille. The objective was to ensure effective follow-up. In this context, it is important to determinate weather the designated tools are appropriate for evaluating the desired developmental outcomes. This study was designed to describe the surveillance tool and to demonstrate its usefulness and limitations. Methods The procedure was initiated in 2004. All existing data for every livebirth child were collected, including data concerning all IVF attempts, medical reports of pregnancy, and child health records. Parents were asked to complete questionnaires and provide their child's personal health records since birth. The quality of the data was evaluated using prenatal and postnatal analysis. The longitudinal anthropometric data of the health records were used to describe the percentiles of weights and heights from birth to 6 years in this population at age-specific reference intervals. Results The follow-up concerned 2081 children born since 1995 with a response rate of 68,9%. A brief descriptive analysis was performed for the cohort and for a group of 1053 children aged five years and older, 225 representative personal health records were used to estimate quintiles for anthropometric data. Conclusion The procedure adopted for the follow-up of in vitro fertilization children meets the established qualitative health requirements. This method provides many benefits with no risk for the children. Data collection from personal health records enabled an exploitation of growth data by including the calculation of anthropometric percentiles in this IVF population. This report presents the first set of IVF child growth standards used as health indicator and health trend measurement.

Are We There Yet? Positioning Qualitative Research Differently

Almost two decades ago, Janice Morse launched this conference, and QHR as a venue for qualitative health research scholarship. The health research climate was then resistant to qualitative research methods. Qualitative scholars portrayed the rigor of their work in traditional scientific language and justified qualitative approaches in opposition to quantitative approaches. Emphasis on difference expanded as we embraced paradigm debates and argued about location of particular research approaches. Increasingly, I have been challenged to reconsider the boundaries between and among research methods and paradigms as I struggled to answer my most pressing emerging questions. The focus of this presentation is consideration of how the position of qualitative research has shifted over the past 20 years. Based on my program of women's health research, I will discuss the appeal and pitfalls of concrete distinctions, the challenges of flexibility and convergence, and the necessity of moving beyond difference toward a complete research toolbox that is useful for improving health.

Global Congress for Qualitative Health Research

Global Congress for Qualitative Health Research

Affecting qualitative health psychology

The ‘affective turn’ is a contemporary movement within the humanities, social science, and psychology to investigate affect, emotion, and feeling as hybrid phenomena jointly constituted from both biological and social influences. Health and illness are themselves jointly constituted in this way, and many of the topics, concerns, and methods of health psychology are strongly permeated by affective phenomena. Qualitative research in health psychology might therefore benefit by engaging with this work. This paper describes some features of the affective turn and suggests theories, terminology, and methods that might be useful.