Two important papers and some bedtime/holiday reading as recommended by Naomi Fulop, Professor of Health Care Organisation & Management, UCL & Chair, HSR UK.
Two important papers and some bedtime/holiday reading...
Demystifying theory and its use in improvement. BMJ Quality and Safety Davidoff F, Dixon-Woods M, Leviton L, Michie S.
Very useful paper aimed at practitioners to help ‘demystify’ the role of theory in the design of their improvement initiatives, but also helpful for researchers studying these initiatives and underlines the importance of understanding practitioners’/policy makers’ implicit or explicit programme theories.
Using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) in systematic reviews ...7 Thomas J, O’Mara-Evans A, Brunton G
Very interesting paper attempting to move the field forward in relation to systematic reviews of complex interventions to address the question: can we identify which intervention from a range of potential ones might be relevant in particular contexts? Using a worked example of a review of community engagement in public health and health promotion interventions, it applies a technique developed in political science and historical sociology, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), to identify the most promising interventions and the ‘active ingredients’ within them.
And finally: have recently finished reading Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch – brilliant, kaleidoscopic tale, full of Dickensian characters that stay with you the whole time you’re reading it and long after you’ve finished. Take it on your next holiday!