Researching Healthcare Consumers

Citation

(2005), "Researching Healthcare Consumers", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 18 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2005.06218bae.001

Researching Healthcare Consumers

Please note that unless expressly stated, these are not reviews of the titles given. They are descriptions of the books based on information provided by the publishers.

Researching Healthcare Consumers

Jennifer Burr and Paula NicholsonPalgrave Macmillan2004ISBN 1 4039 051304

Keywords: Consumer behaviour, Health service, Evidence-based practice

The NHS continues to undergo a series of reforms with an increasing emphasis on user “choice” and “empowerment” of health service users, with the requirement that all aspects of health care operate from an evidence or knowledge base. This text presents a variety of research methods that have been used to elicit users’ views of health care, including health forums, public opinion surveys and focus groups. It provides a critical overview of key contemporary research with consumers of health services.

Contents include:

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  “Critical approaches to researching ‘consumers’ of healthcare”;

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  “Methods, epistemology and consumer involvement in research”;

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  “Patient experience surveys”;

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  “Qualitative methods in consumer research”;

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  “The role of information technology in accessing consumer perspectives”; and

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  “Taking account of consumer views”.