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Biomedical subjects

Alan Shiell

Publications and source records attributed to Alan Shiell.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Understanding place and health: a heuristic for using administrative data.

The increasing availability, use and limitations of administrative data for place-based population health research, and a lack of theory development, created the context for the current paper. We developed a heuristic to interrogate administrative data sets and to help us develop explanatory pathways for linking place and health. Guided by a worked example, we argue that some items in administrative data sets lend themselves to multiple theories, creating problems of inference owing to the implications of using inductive versus deductive reasoning during the research process, and that certain types of theories are privileged when used administrative data bases.

Canada↗
PubMed2006

The health of nations in a global context: trade, global stratification, and infant mortality rates.

Despite the call for a better understanding of macro-level factors that affect population health, social epidemiological research has tended to focus almost exclusively on national-level factors, such as Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP/c) or levels of social cohesion. Using a world-systems framework to examine cross-national variations in infant mortality, this paper seeks to emphasize the effects of global trade on national-level population health. Rather than viewing national-level health indicators as autonomous from broader global contexts, the study uses network analysis methods to examine the effects of international trade on infant mortality rates. Network data for countries were derived from international data on the trade of capital-intensive commodities in 2000. Using automorphic equivalence to measure the degree to which actors in a network perform similar roles, countries were assigned into one of six world-system blocks, each with its own pattern of trade. These blocks were dummy-coded and tested using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. A key finding from this analysis is that after controlling for national-level factors, the two blocks with the lowest density in capital-intensive exchange, i.e., the periphery, are significantly and positively associated with national-level infant mortality rates. Results show the effects of peripherality and stratification on population health, and highlight the influence of broader macro-level factors such as trade and globalization on national health.

Commerce↗
PubMed2006

Test-retest reliability of willingness to pay.

We describe the results of a survey designed to assess the test-retest reliability of a method of establishing willingness to pay. Willingness to pay values for a hypothetical intervention were elicited from a randomly selected, population sample by face-to-face interview on three occasions over a period of 5 weeks. Test-retest reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation and by generalizability analysis. Reliability was acceptable but not substantial, and there was a statistically significant shift in mean value between first and second assessments. The greatest source of variation in values was the participants. There was also a substantial interaction between time and participants, suggesting that some respondents changed their answers at follow-up. The results were sensitive to the high valuations provided by four of the participants, however.

Australia↗
PubMed2005

The privileging of communitarian ideas: citation practices and the translation of social capital into public health research.

The growing use of social science constructs in public health invites reflection on how public health researchers translate, that is, appropriate and reshape, constructs from the social sciences. To assess how 1 recently popular construct has been translated into public health research, we conducted a citation network and content analysis of public health articles on the topic of social capital. The analyses document empirically how public health researchers have privileged communitarian definitions of social capital and marginalized network definitions in their citation practices. Such practices limit the way public health researchers measure social capital's effects on health. The application of social science constructs requires that public health scholars be sensitive to how their own citation habits shape research and knowledge.

Health Services Research↗
PubMed2005

Contextualizing and assessing the social capital of seniors in congregate housing residences: study design and methods.

BACKGROUND: This article discusses the study design and methods used to contextualize and assess the social capital of seniors living in congregate housing residences in Calgary, Alberta. The project is being funded as a pilot project under the Institute of Aging, Canadian Institutes for Health Research. DESIGN/METHODS: Working with seniors living in 5 congregate housing residencies in Calgary, the project uses a mixed method approach to develop grounded measures of the social capital of seniors. The project integrates both qualitative and quantitative methods in a 3-phase research design: 1) qualitative, 2) quantitative, and 3) qualitative. Phase 1 uses gender-specific focus groups; phase 2 involves the administration of individual surveys that include a social network module; and phase 3 uses anamolous-case interviews. Not only does the study design allow us to develop grounded measures of social capital but it also permits us to test how well the three methods work separately, and how well they fit together to achieve project goals. This article describes the selection of the study population, the multiple methods used in the research and a brief discussion of our conceptualization and measurement of social capital.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Contested ground: how should qualitative evidence inform the conduct of a community intervention trial?

This paper presents issues which arose in the conduct of qualitative evaluation research within a cluster-randomized, community-level, preventive intervention trial. The research involved the collection of narratives of practice regarding the intervention by community development officers working in eight communities over a two-year period. The community development officers were largely responsible for implementing the intervention. We discuss the challenges associated with the collection of data as the intervention unfolded, in particular, the disputes over cues to revise and adjust the intervention (i.e. to use the early data formatively). We explore the ethical uncertainties that arise when multiple parties have different views on the legitimacy of types of knowledge and the appropriate role of research and theory in various trial stages. These issues are discussed drawing on the fields of ethnography, community psychology, epidemiology, qualitative methodology and notions of research reflexivity. We conclude by arguing that, in addition to the usual practice of having an outcome data-monitoring committee, community intervention trials also require a process data-monitoring committee as a forum for debate and decision-making. Without such a forum, the relevance, ethics and position of qualitative evaluation research within randomized controlled trials are destined to be a point of contention rather than a source of insight.

Cluster Analysis↗
PubMed2004

A census of economic evaluations in health promotion.

While policy makers argue for a greater share of health resources to go to health promotion, action is stalled by, among other things, the perception that little is known about which interventions offer the best health returns. Additionally, what is missing is any sense of what the economic literature in health promotion looks like overall. Where is the economic evidence plentiful and where is it scant? The project described here compiled a census of economic evaluations in health promotion. Studies were classified according to a four-part typology that documented the strategic intent of the intervention, the risk factor being addressed, the population most affected and the setting in which the intervention took place. Since 1990, there have been over 400 economic evaluations of health-promoting interventions in the peer review and grey literatures. Of these, 90% address biological or behavioral determinants of health. Relatively little is known about the economics of population health advocacy or interventions to tackle the social and economic determinants of health. Initiatives are in place to increase the availability of economic evidence. Research is also needed into how to support decision makers' use of imperfect, incomplete and uncertain information.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed2004

Methods for exploring implementation variation and local context within a cluster randomised community intervention trial.

Insignificant or modest findings in intervention trials may be attributable to poorly designed or theorised interventions, poorly implemented interventions, or inadequate evaluation methods. The pre-existing context may also account for the effects observed. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods is outlined that will permit the determination of how context level factors might modify intervention effectiveness, within a cluster randomised community intervention trial to promote the health of mothers with new babies. The methods include written and oral narratives, key informant interviews, impact logs, and inter-organisational network analyses. Context level factors, which may affect intervention uptake, success, and sustainability are the density of inter-organisational ties within communities at the start of the intervention, the centrality of the primary care agencies expected to take a lead with the intervention, the extent of context-level adaptation of the intervention, and the amount of local resources contributed by the participating agencies. Investigation of how intervention effects are modified by context is a new methodological frontier in community intervention trial research.

Community Health Services↗
PubMed2003

If the price is right: vagueness and values clarification in contingent valuation.

The use of willingness to pay to value the benefits of health care is increasing. Much of this work assumes that health preferences are well formed or 'complete' and readily revealed if the right question is asked in the right way. We examined this assumption, seeking evidence in a mixed-methods study that explored the meaning and implications of vague responses to a payment-scale based willingness to pay exercise.One-half of the sample said that their vagueness meant that their maximum willingness to pay was actually greater than the amount that they had previously said it was. Thirty percent agreed that they would probably pay pound 10 more than a sum that they had previously said they would most definitely not pay, if they found this to be the cost of the vaccine. Interview data supported the view that the payment scale had failed to elicit the maximum willingness to pay and that some participants used the information on cost to help clarify their values, in contrast to the theory underpinning willingness to pay. The results suggest a need to consider values-clarification in health economic evaluations.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed2003

Reliability of health utility measures and a test of values clarification.

This study examines the test-retest reliability of two methods of establishing health preference weights and assesses the effectiveness of a brief values-clarification exercise. Survey participants were randomly allocated to one of two groups and received either a standard protocol for eliciting health preferences (comparison group) or an augmented protocol designed to encourage reflection and deliberation (intervention group). Preferences were elicited on three occasions over 5 weeks. The results show that the two valuation methods each had acceptable levels of test-retest reliability. No significant differences were found in preference weights over time or between intervention and comparison groups. The values-clarification exercise had some impact on individual answers, but the changes cancelled each other out at the group level. There was no discernable intervention effect at the group level. It is premature to draw conclusions from one study about why, or even how, a person's valuations might change over time, but our results support the use of current valuation techniques for group-level analyses.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1999

Participation in treatment decision-making by women with early stage breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the way women treated for early stage breast cancer perceived the treatment selection process. The purpose was to understand more fully patients' experiences of the decision process and their preferences for participation in treatment decisions. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The study informants were 40 women, treated at a teaching hospital in Sydney Australia, who were interviewed face to face 1 year after their first treatment for stage I or stage II breast cancer. METHODS: This study used a qualitative approach, based on the analysis of interview transcripts. The main areas covered were how the informants' treatment decisions were made and their preferences for participation in treatment decisions. Content and thematic analyses were conducted with findings presented using verbatim quotations for illustration. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Many of the informants who preferred not to participate in decisions also failed to recognize the need for value judgements (as well as medical expertise) in the decision-making process. Some informants believed they ought to be responsible for the consequences whilst others did not. Difficulties were identified in patient utilization of medical information for treatment decision-making, and also in establishing preferences for the risks and benefits of treatments where few patients had prior experience of the potential outcomes. The findings indicate that patient participation in treatment decision-making is a more complex issue than simply giving patients information and choices. Ways of enhancing patients' involvement in the treatment selection process are discussed.

Journal Article↗