Synthesis Of Qualitative Research Research Articles

Self-Management Support Needs From the Perspectives of Persons With Severe Mental Illness: A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research.

BACKGROUND: The development of de-hospitalization policies in mental health has resulted in a growing emphasis on self-management. In the chronic care model, self-management support is an essential element. Because of the episodic nature of severe mental illness (SMI) and its high relapse rates, we assume that the extent of self-management support needs of individuals with an SMI is considerable. However, a clear overview of the nature of the self-management support needs of persons with SMI is missing. AIMS: This study aimed to identify self-management support needs from the perspective of individuals with SMI. METHOD: A systematic review was conducted using the method of thematic synthesis of qualitative studies. After searching the databases MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and EMBASE, we screened the papers for the eligibility criteria: individuals with an SMI, adequately representing the voice of persons with SMI and describing their self-management support needs. Thirty-one papers were included. RESULTS: The main findings showed that participants in the studies described the need for informational support, emotional support, acknowledgment, encouragement, and guidance to make sense of their illness experiences, ease suffering, obtain validation and recognition, execute self-management tasks, and be led through unfamiliar territory. CONCLUSION: The perspectives of persons with SMI can provide a road map for constructing a self-management support intervention for persons with SMI. Important others have an essential role in fulfilling support needs. Independently managing an SMI is difficult. Therefore, it is preferable to let important others participate in self-management interventions and to introduce peer support.

What Is the Experience of Practitioners in Health, Education or Social Care Roles Following a Death by Suicide? A Qualitative Research Synthesis.

Recent research has highlighted that the number of people impacted by a death by suicide is far greater than previously estimated and includes wider networks beyond close family members. It is important to understand the ways in which suicide impacts different groups within these wider networks so that safe and appropriate postvention support can be developed and delivered. A systematic review in the form of a qualitative research synthesis was undertaken with the aim of addressing the question ‘what are the features of the experiences of workers in health, education or social care roles following the death by suicide of a client, patient, student or service user?’ The analysis developed three categories of themes, ‘Horror, shock and trauma’, ‘Scrutiny, judgement and blame’, and ‘Support, learning and living with’. The mechanisms of absolution and incrimination were perceived to impact upon practitioners’ experiences within social and cultural contexts. Practitioners need to feel prepared for the potential impacts of a suicide and should be offered targeted postvention support to help them in processing their responses and in developing narratives that enable continued safe practice. Postvention responses need to be contextualised socially, culturally and organisationally so that they are sensitive to individual need.

One Size Does Not Fit All: Toward an Evidence-Based Framework for Determining Online Course Enrollment Sizes in Higher Education

Class enrollment sizes for online learning in higher education, a topic of persistent interest in the academic literature, impact student learning, pedagogical strategies, school finances, and faculty workload. Yet in the research literature class size is addressed with insufficient specificity to provide enrollment direction. Seeking guidelines for determining online class sizes, the authors conducted a qualitative research synthesis from 43 recent higher education journals, yielding 58 evidence-based articles. It is clear that no one size fits all. Findings reflect that large class sizes (≥ 40 students) are effective for foundational and factual knowledge acquisition requiring less individualized faculty-student interaction. Small class sizes (≤ 15 students) are indicated for courses intending to develop higher-order thinking, mastery of complex knowledge, and student skill development. Pedagogical intent should dictate class size. Using well-established learning theories, the authors describe current understandings of online enrollments and propose an analytical framework for pedagogically-driven numerically-specific class sizes.

Teachers’ beliefs about technology integration in early childhood education: A meta-ethnographical synthesis of qualitative research

There is a body of evidence suggesting that instead of concentrating only on teaching and learning (the education task), teachers believe that their tasks are to care for their students social, emotional, and physical needs (the caring task), and to raise them to be and become functional members of society (the socialization task). However, this diversity has not been acknowledged in teachers' beliefs research done in technology integration context. To provide a more nuanced understanding of the variety and role of teachers' beliefs about technology integration this study has synthesized 35 qualitative empirical research studies via the method of meta-ethnography. The focus is on early childhood education (ECE) as so far, no reviews on early childhood teachers' beliefs have been conducted. The synthesis suggests, that education, socialization, and care all have a meaningful role in teachers' beliefs towards technology use in ECE. Each of these tasks and dimensions were identified from teachers' beliefs for or against integrating technology into ECE practices. The synthesis also suggests, that teachers’ beliefs are shaped by macro- and micro-contextual factors including national educational policies and personal experiences. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

Barriers and facilitators to reducing anticholinergic burden from the perspectives of patients, their carers, and healthcare professionals: A protocol for qualitative evidence synthesis.

Anticholinergic drugs are prescribed for a range of conditions including gastrointestinal disorders, overactive bladder, allergies, and depression. While in some circumstances anticholinergic effects are therapeutic, they also pose many undesired or adverse effects. The overall impact from concomitant use of multiple medications with anticholinergic properties is termed anticholinergic burden (ACB). Greater ACB is associated with increased risks of impaired physical and cognitive function, falls, cardiovascular events, and mortality. This has led to the development of interventions aimed at reducing ACB through the deprescribing of anticholinergic drugs. However, little is known about the implementation issues that may influence successful embedding and integration of such interventions into routine clinical practice. In this paper, we present the protocol for our systematic review that aims to identify the qualitative evidence for the barriers and facilitators to reduce ACB from the perspectives of patients, carers, and healthcare professionals. A comprehensive search strategy will be conducted across OVID Medline, EMBASE, PsycInfo, and CINAHL. The review will be conducted in accordance with ENTREQ (Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research) and has been registered with PROSPERO (Registration CRD42018109084). Normalization process theory (NPT) will be used to explore, understand, and explain qualitative data in relation to factors that act as barriers or facilitators to ACB reduction.

Explaining Post-Traumatic Growth: Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research

Explaining Post-Traumatic Growth: Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research

A qualitative research synthesis exploring professional touch in healthcare practice using the threshold concept framework.

Touch is an integral part of human life. Consequently, touching and being touched are also fundamental to healthcare practice. Despite a significant literature on touch, it is rarely conceptualized or discussed in terms of the student journey from layperson to practitioner. We chose to explore professional touch using the threshold concepts framework (TCF), which provides a theoretical model for exploring the way in which learners encounter, engage with and understand fundamental concepts in a discipline. This qualitative research synthesis (QRS) describes the use of the TCF to identify key issues involved in developing and using professional touch. Through a cross-professional analysis and synthesis of recent international literature, we aimed to identify key characteristics of the transitional journey for professional touch. Three orders of analysis were applied, employing a methodology described by Major and Savin-Baden (An introduction to qualitative research synthesis: managing the information explosion in social science research, Routledge, London, 2010). Following identification of threshold characteristics in the overall sample of articles, second order analysis revealed the nuances of professional touch associated with the characteristics. The final synthesis led to identification of five themes: touch as dialogue; being changed by touch; multiple boundaries of touch; multiple meanings of touch and influences on touch. Whilst providing support for some assertions within the literature, this QRS also offers new insights into the complexity of professional touch. Given the paucity of explicit learning and reflection around professional touch in training programmes of health professionals, the TCF reveals ways in which professional preparation might be improved to promote understanding of the role and impact of touch in practice.

Arts for the blues – a new creative psychological therapy for depression

ABSTRACTRoutinely prescribed psychological therapies for depression are not always effective. Arts therapies, particularly Dance Movement Psychotherapy, may offer additional therapeutic mechanisms for depression. Therefore, client-reported helpful factors from various therapy types, along with client preferences, are key in devising new therapeutic interventions. We present a framework for a new pluralistic “meta-approach” of therapy for depression, based on an interdisciplinary thematic synthesis (Thomas, J., & Harden, A. (2008). Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 8[1], 45) of active ingredients from both talking therapies and creative approaches. Lastly, we offer an illustrative group therapy workshop based on this approach, to be piloted with clients and practitioners within an NHS mental health service. Further research is required to evaluate this pilot and to devise a full treatment for trialling within the service.

Protocol on a systematic review of qualitative studies on asthma treatment challenges experienced in Sub-Saharan Africa

BackgroundAsthma is a major worldwide public health problem affecting an estimated 334 million people with over 300,000 deaths annually. Twenty-two million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) are lost annually due to asthma. The condition may present many challenges if not managed well and effectively. This systematic review will provide a comprehensive synthesis of qualitative literature regarding the challenges experienced in the management of asthma and strategies adopted to counter these challenges. The review will answer the following questions: (i) what challenges have been experienced in the treatment of asthma in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)? and (ii) what strategies have been used to overcome asthma treatment challenges in SSA?MethodsThe reviewers will search for the following databases for relevant qualitative studies: PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus/Embase (Elsevier), EbscoHost, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Google Scholar, using the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and controlled vocabulary. These articles must have been published in the English language between January 2008 and December 2018. The identified papers will then be assessed for meeting eligibility criteria. Two independent reviewers will screen titles and abstracts of articles and then review the full texts of the selected research articles. Standard data extraction forms will be utilised, and the quality of the included studies will be assessed using the Joanna Briggs checklist for qualitative research appraisal tool. Results from eligible articles will be qualitatively synthesised using the framework synthesis approach and reported according to the Enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research (ENTREQ) statement.DiscussionThis systematic review will provide an overview of reported challenges in the treatment of asthma in Sub-Saharan Africa from 2008 to 2018. The review is expected to provide information that will help form the basis for future research, policy development and practice in treatment of asthma.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42018095802

A scoping review found increasing examples of rapid qualitative evidence syntheses and no methodological guidance

ObjectivesThe objective of the study was to identify existing methodological guidance for the conduct of rapid qualitative evidence syntheses and examples of rapid qualitative evidence syntheses to describe the methods used. Study Design and SettingWe conducted a systematic scoping review. We searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, gray literature, including PROSPERO, with no date limits and solicited examples through experts and researchers in the field. ResultsWe found no methodological guidance to direct the conduct of rapid qualitative evidence synthesis and 15 examples including 13 completed reviews and two protocols. Diverse methods to abbreviate the review process were followed, which largely mirror methods developed for rapid reviews of clinical effects. Abbreviated search strategies, including date and language restrictions, were common, as was the use of a single reviewer for screening, data extraction, and quality appraisal. Descriptive approaches to synthesis, such as thematic synthesis, were more common than interpretive approaches, such as metaethnography. ConclusionThere is a need to develop and explore methods for the synthesis of qualitative research that balance the need for rapidity with rigor. In the meantime, providing details on the methods used, shortcuts made, and the implications of such methodological choices, together with collective sharing of innovations, becomes more important under increased time constraints.

Systematic reviews of qualitative evidence for environmental policy and management: an overview of different methodological options

Qualitative research related to the human dimensions of conservation and environment is growing in quantity. Rigorous syntheses of such studies can help develop understanding and inform decision-making. They can combine findings from studies in varied or similar contexts to address questions relating to, for example, the lived experience of those affected by environmental phenomena or interventions, or to intervention implementation. Researchers in environmental management have adapted methodology for systematic reviews of quantitative research so as to address questions about the magnitude of intervention effects or the impacts of human activities or exposure. However, guidance for the synthesis of qualitative evidence in this field does not yet exist. The objective of this paper is to present a brief overview of different methods for the synthesis of qualitative research and to explore why and how reviewers might select between these. The paper discusses synthesis methods developed in other fields but applicable to environmental management and policy. These methods include thematic synthesis, framework synthesis, realist synthesis, critical interpretive synthesis and meta-ethnography. We briefly describe each of these approaches, give recommendations for the selection between them, and provide a selection of sources for further reading.

Peer feedback as assessment practice in doctoral programs: a systematic review of empirical research

Within the broad debate on the use of feedback in Higher Education, peer assessment represents a practice that facilitates student learning through interaction and the promotion of autonomy.Starting from the definition of assessment practice – which fits into the broader theoretical framework of the balanced assessment system – the use of peer feedback is analyzed in light of the model we have called AsOFAL (Assessment Of, For, As Learning) and within the context of the research doctorate.The contribution presents a qualitative synthesis of research related to the use of feedback as a practical assessment of students’ learning in the research doctorate, with particular reference tothe use of peer feedback. The identification and synthesis of the research was conducted through a systematic review. 11,829 contributions were extracted without time constraints from the query of several aggregators and databases (ProQuest, Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO). 15 contributions were included in the analysis by means of a text-mining work following a selection of inclusion / exclusion criteria and critical assessment. The analysis of the literature, selected on the basis of contextual and methodological criteria, allowed the elaboration of a first mapping. The impact of the use of this assessment practice and the possible areas of development are henceforth defined.

Qualitative research synthesis: An appreciative and critical introduction

This paper introduces models and techniques for synthesizing multiple qualitative studies on a topic. Qualitative research synthesis is a diverse set of methods for combining the data or the results of multiple studies on a topic to generate new knowledge, theory and applications. Use of qualitative research synthesis is rapidly expanding across disciplines. Aggregative and interpretive models of qualitative research synthesis are defined and distinguished. Several interpretive models are detailed. Their strengths are identified, and their limitations and areas of methodological ambiguity are critically examined. The steps of qualitative research synthesis are discussed and challenges specific to doing qualitative synthesis are identified and explored.

Primary care physicians’ decision-making processes in the context of multimorbidity: protocol of a systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative research

IntroductionGood patient outcomes correlate with the physicians’ capacity for good clinical judgement. Multimorbidity is common and it increases uncertainty and complexity in the clinical encounter. However, healthcare systems and medical...

Socioeconomic factors affecting access to preferred place of death: A qualitative evidence synthesis.

Existing quantitative evidence suggests that at a population level, socioeconomic factors affect access to preferred place of death. However, the influence of individual and contextual socioeconomic factors on preferred place of death are less well understood. To systematically synthesise the existing qualitative evidence for socioeconomic factors affecting access to preferred place of death in the United Kingdom. A thematic synthesis of qualitative research. Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, ASSIA, Scopus and PsycINFO databases were searched from inception to May 2018. A total of 13 articles, reporting on 12 studies, were included in the synthesis. Two overarching themes were identified: 'Human factors' representing support networks, interactions between people and decision-making and 'Environmental factors', which included issues around locations and resources. Few studies directly referenced socioeconomic deprivation. The main factor affecting access to preferred place of death was social support; people with fewer informal carers were less likely to die in their preferred location. Other key findings included fluidity around the concept of home and variability in preferred place of death itself, particularly in response to crises. There is limited UK-based qualitative research on socioeconomic factors affecting preferred place of death. Further qualitative research is needed to explore the barriers and facilitators of access to preferred place of death in socioeconomically deprived UK communities. In practice, there needs to be more widespread discussion and documentation of preferred place of death while also recognising these preferences may change as death nears or in times of crisis.

Pedagogical knowledge Management and its Application in Medical Education: A Research Synthesis Study

Background: Pedagogical knowledge management is the management of knowledge and experiences in teaching, assessment, learning theories, and classroom management, and other areas of education. An analytical study of the literature can be helpful in understanding the pedagogical knowledge management approach. Thus, this study aims to perform a synthesis research on the efficacy of pedagogical knowledge management and to explain its applications and strategies. Methods: The method of this study is the qualitative research synthesis. Data was gathered through searching library resources, theses, and articles in the Google Scholar, Science Direct, SID, Springer, IEEE, and Eric databases. In order to search the domestic and foreign databases, keywords have been used without time limits. A total of 3227 published research papers were identified and 66 of them were selected for analysis. Results: The results of analyzing the studies showed that knowledge management is effective in the field of education and is widely used in the professional development of professors, lesson study, upgrading qualification, curriculum development, evidence-based education, lifelong learning, teaching design and clinical reasoning. According to the results of the research, among approaches regarding knowledge management in education are establishing learning communities, storytelling, knowledge management platforms such as wiki, web2, blogs, etc. Conclusion: The results of this study show the widespread use of pedagogical knowledge management in all areas of education; therefore, identification and implementation of practical strategies such as virtual and real learning communities of professors, storytelling, the establishment of the thoughts room for the proper management of pedagogical knowledge are suggested.

The Roles of Spirituality in People Living with HIV/AIDS: A Qualitative Meta-synthesis

This qualitative research synthesis was conducted to explore the roles of spirituality in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) by using a systematic literature review and a meta-ethnographic method. CINAHL, PubMed, Science Direct, Clinical Key, Wiley Library Online, Thai LIS and Thai Jo databases were searched for articles published from 2000 to 2018. Eleven studies involving 310 participants were included. According to the findings, the following positive roles of spirituality for PLWHA were identified: 1) enhancing peace and happiness; 2) cultivating inner strength; 3) illness understanding and self-acceptance; 4) improving self-healthcare; 5) developing a sense of compassion; 6) finding purpose in life; 7) maintaining hope; and 8) creating relationships and a sense of connection. Nevertheless, a negative role of spirituality for PLWHA, internalized conflict, was also identified. Evidence from this study can provide in-depth understanding for healthcare providers to create spiritual care for PLWHA. Keywords spirituality, spiritual roles, HIV/AIDS, qualitative meta-synthesis DOI: 10.31524/bkkmedj.2019.02.020

Mapping of modifiable barriers and facilitators of medication adherence in bipolar disorder to the Theoretical Domains Framework: a systematic review protocol

IntroductionPeople with bipolar disorder require long-term treatment but it is estimated that 40% of these people do not adhere to prescribed medication regimens. Non-adherence increases the risk of relapse, hospitalisation...

Patients and informal caregivers’ experiences of burden of treatment in lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): a systematic review and synthesis of qualitative research

ObjectiveTo identify, characterise and explain common and specific features of the experience of treatment burden in relation to patients living with lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and...

Stigmatisation, identity, and educational exclusion in postindustrial societies: A qualitative synthesis of research from UK, Germany, and the Nordic countries

ABSTRACTFrom existing research, we know segregation in poverty-intensive and immigrant-dense suburban spaces cannot be easily dissociated from educational inequality and exclusion. Our aim in this paper is to explore the link between urban segregation, social deprivation, migration and education by bringing together the findings from several ethnographic studies conducted in Europe. The starting point for our discussion is the findings from one meta-ethnogaphy which examined youth experiences of territorial stigmatisation, ethnification of poverty and educational inequality in economically challenged residential areas in Nordic cities. Our analysis has attempted to synthesise the findings from that study with those from ethnographies conducted in England and Germany. Results show how formal education is not only failing to contribute to the disruption of the processes which sustain social segregation, poverty and territorial stigmatisation but it is itself subjected to those. We argue that the value of education when this is conceptualised as commodity and promoted in the context of a market economy cannot but be at least partially dependent upon the inequality in its provision.