Biomedical subjects

Sarah Hean

Publications and source records attributed to Sarah Hean.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Will opposites attract? Similarities and differences in students' perceptions of the stereotype profiles of other health and social care professional groups.

The extent to which health and social care (HSC) students hold stereotypical views of other HSC professional groups is of great potential importance to team working in health care. This paper explores students' perceptions of different HSC professional groups at the beginning of their university programmes. Findings are presented from an analysis of baseline data collected as part of the New Generation Project longitudinal cohort study which is assessing the impact of interprofessional education over time on a range of variables including stereotyping. Questionnaires were administered to a cohort of over 1200 students from 10 different HSC professional groups entering their first year of university. Stereotypes were measured using a tool adapted from Barnes et al. (2000) designed to elicit stereotype ratings on a range of nine characteristics. The findings confirm that students arrive at university with an established and consistent set of stereotypes about other health and social care professional groups. Stereotypical profiles were compiled for each professional group indicating the distinctive characteristics of the groups as well as the similarities and differences between groups.Midwives, social workers and nurses were rated most highly on interpersonal skills and on being a team player whilst doctors were rated most highly on academic ability. Doctors, midwives and social workers were perceived as having the strongest leadership role, whilst doctors were also rated most highly on decision making. All professions were rated highly on confidence and professional competence and, with the exception of social workers, on practical skills. A comparison of profiles for each professional group reveals that, for example, pharmacists and doctors were perceived as having very similar characteristics as were social workers, midwives and nurses. However, the profiles of nurses and doctors were perceived to be very different. The implications of these similarities and differences are discussed in terms of their potential impact on interprofessional interactions, role boundaries and team working.

Health Personnel↗

PubMed2005

The Contact Hypothesis: an exploration of its further potential in interprofessional education.

This paper highlights the research challenges that face researchers wishing to build the evidence base around interprofessional education (IPE). It concentrates specifically on the short-term impact of IPE on a student population. The Contact Hypothesis is a particularly useful theoretical framework to address these challenges as well as guide the development of IPE interventions. A brief description of this theory and the closely-related theories of social identity and categorization is made in order to support and clarify this theoretical position. The application of the Contact Hypothesis as it has already been made in the IPE field is also described. The paper then addresses how the Contact Hypothesis can be further utilized to address IPE research needs. Through consideration of critique of this theory outside of this field, the development of this framework beyond its early applications to the IPE field are addressed in terms of future direction, the caveats and models of IPE that now require empirical testing.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2004

Educating the future workforce: building the evidence about interprofessional learning.

This paper addresses the theme of interprofessional education for health and social care professionals as it affects the development of the workforce. The drivers for change in the UK, typified by the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Victoria Climbié inquiries and the response to these in the form of Department of Health policy, are discussed. The need for rapid development of the evidence base around this subject is evident from literature reviews of the impact of interprofessional education. Directions for future research and investment in this area are proposed, including the need for a stronger theoretical base and for longitudinal studies over extended periods of time in order to examine short, medium and long-term outcomes in relation to health care practice.

Employment↗

PubMed2003

The M-C-M' cycle and social capital.

Social capital has become a popular term over the past two decades amongst researchers, policy makers and practitioners from varied disciplines. This popularity, however, has resulted in a great deal of confusion over the nature and application of social capital in different contexts. This confusion has made it difficult to identify and measure social capital within the evaluation of specific social and health programmes, one of the aims of which may be to stimulate social capital. This paper identifies a theoretical model that seeks to capture the dynamic nature of social capital to assist in the development of research methods that will facilitate its measurement and exploration within such programmes. The model reported in the paper identifies the key components of social capital and expresses the relationship between those components in a dynamic system based on Marx's description of the process of capital (economic) exchanges expressed in the M-C-M' cycle. The M-C-M' cycle is the transformation of money (M) into commodities (C), and the change of commodities back again into money (M') of altered value. The emphasis within the paper is on the capital element of the concept and its transactional nature with the aim of avoiding the pitfall of attributing social capital in relation to social behaviours in isolation of context and interaction. Importantly, the paper seeks to distinguish the central elements of social capital from some of the antecedent factors and outcomes often attributed to and confused with social capital adding to the problem of providing valid measurement. The model is presented as the basis for the measurement of social capital within a transactional process involving the investment of social resources in a cyclical process, which may result in net gains or losses. This process is described as the R-C-R' cycle following Marx's model of economic capital, with the focus being on the transfer of social resources (R) rather than money (M). R represents an internal resource held by individuals, C the external resource or commodity they obtain from the network and the R' the internal resource of altered value. The possibilities of the model in assisting in the measurement of social capital specifically in assessing formal networks are explored.

Commerce↗