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What can a participatory approach to evaluation contribute to the field of integrated care?

Eyre, Laura; Farrelly, Michael; Marshall, Martin

Authors

Laura Eyre

Martin Marshall



Abstract

© 2017 BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Better integration of care within the health sector and between health and social care is seen in many countries as an essential way of addressing the enduring problems of dwindling resources, changing demographics and unacceptable variation in quality of care. Current research evidence about the effectiveness of integration efforts supports neither the enthusiasm of those promoting and designing integrated care programmes nor the growing efforts of practitioners attempting to integrate care on the ground. In this paper we present a methodological approach, based on the principles of participatory research, that attempts to address this challenge. Participatory approaches are characterised by a desire to use social science methods to solve practical problems and a commitment on the part of researchers to substantive and sustained collaboration with relevant stakeholders. We describe how we applied an emerging practical model of participatory research, the researcher-in-residence model, to evaluate a large-scale integrated care programme in the UK. We propose that the approach added value to the programme in a number of ways: by engaging stakeholders in using established evidence and with the benefits of rigorously evaluating their work, by providing insights for local stakeholders that they were either not familiar with or had not fully considered in relation to the development and implementation of the programme and by challenging established mindsets and norms. While there is still much to learn about the benefits and challenges of applying participatory approaches in the health sector, we demonstrate how using such approaches have the potential to help practitioners integrate care more effectively in their daily practice and help progress the academic study of integrated care.

Citation

Eyre, L., Farrelly, M., & Marshall, M. (2017). What can a participatory approach to evaluation contribute to the field of integrated care?. BMJ Quality and Safety, 26(7), 588-594. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2016-005777

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 13, 2016
Online Publication Date Dec 8, 2016
Publication Date 2017-07
Deposit Date Dec 14, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal BMJ quality & safety
Print ISSN 2044-5415
Electronic ISSN 2044-5423
Publisher BMJ Publishing Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 26
Issue 7
Pages 588-594
DOI https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2016-005777
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/472188
Publisher URL http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/early/2016/12/08/bmjqs-2016-005777
Additional Information This article has been accepted for publication in BMJ quality & safety. The definitive copyedited, typeset version Eyre L, et al. BMJ Qual Saf 2016;0:1–7. doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2016-005777 1 is available online at : http://bjsm.bmj.com

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