Needs assessment. Involvement of staff and users will help to meet needs.
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Changes to professional work now ensure that social care and health care workers should be accountable to service users, and not only to their professional colleagues. This paper seeks to explore how this may eventually be realised in new working relationships that will profoundly affect mental health social work. These changes are driven by factors that are external to the social work profession-in policy initiatives that introduce measures of performance that incorporate the service user in both evaluating and planning services, in efforts to build new relationships, and in a breakdown of barriers between social work practitioners and service managers. While these changes are sometimes likely to be resisted by practitioners and service users alike, the demands of policy makers for a new professional accountability to service users can be used to pave the way for effective dialogue. The paper outlines the steps necessary to build confidence among both service users and service providers. This requires sensitive management and leadership. It also requires that action demonstrably follows from such dialogue. The paper uses evidence from Community Mental Health Teams in Swansea, over a three-year period, to demonstrate how the policy and management imperatives faced by service providers can be reconciled with the expressed desires of mental health service users.
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BACKGROUND: Usually experts decide on which research is worthwhile, yet it is government policy to involve service users in research. There has been a lack of published research about involving patients from minority ethnic groups and people from deprived areas in setting research agendas. In this study we wanted to hear the voices of patients that are not often heard. AIM: To find out the research priorities of people with diabetes from an inner city community and compare these with current expert-led research priorities in diabetes. DESIGN OF STUDY: A qualitative study using a participatory approach with consumer groups. SETTING: Primary care within inner city Nottingham, UK. METHOD: Thirty-nine adult patients with diabetes with varying ethnic backgrounds recruited from three general practices. Six focus groups carried out in participants' preferred language, analysed using the constant comparative method. RESULTS: Nine main themes equating to research priorities were identified. Within these themes, information and awareness, service delivery and primary prevention of diabetes emerged as the main factors. There were no science-based topics and there was more emphasis on culturally influenced research questions, which differed from recent Department of Health priorities. There were several themes about service delivery, patient self-management and screening and prevention of diabetes that overlapped. CONCLUSIONS: There is some divergence between expert-led and patient-led agendas in research about diabetes. Patient perspectives have a significant influence on research priorities, and there are likely to be several different patient perspectives.
AIMS: In this article the author--board-member of the European Network of (ex-) Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (ENUSP)--explains, what is needed to guarantee a minimal level of involvement of users and survivors of psychiatry into issues relating to psychiatric drugs. METHODS: He reflects demands of their organisations, and compares these demands with the current involvement level. Considering the concrete circumstances in psychiatry, he reflects the risks and dangers of the administered drugs--especially the widely used neuroleptics--for example enhanced breast cancer risk in women, suicidal effects, receptor changes, tardive dyskinesia and other toxic reactions. RESULTS: Considering the unique situation of psychiatric patients to receive treatment in general without informed consent and in a violent way or through bullying and threat, he argues for to provide their involvement in all aspects of psychiatric drug issues--especially registration and monitoring, for example by their involvement in creating and running a suicide register. And he argues for involvement in ethics committees, licensing processes and providing guidelines and decision making about effectiveness and reimbursement of costs. CONCLUSIONS: As first steps towards these aims he proposes independent and user-controlled research, independent and user-controlled education and independent and user-controlled information about the effects of psychiatric drugs.
BACKGROUND: A previous case-control study involving concomitant users of coumarin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) found that cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2)-selective NSAIDs were associated with fewer bleeding complications than nonselective NSAIDs. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to determine the incremental cost-effectiveness of COX-2-selective versus nonselective NSAIDs in relation to the occurrence of bleeding complications in a cohort of concomitant coumarin users. METHODS: The pharmacoeconomic evaluation was linked to a case-control analysis (patients with and without bleeding complications) based on data from the earlier study in users of concomitant coumarin and NSAIDs. Medical costs associated with NSAID use and bleeding complications were estimated according to Dutch guidelines for pharmacoeconomic analyses, based on Dutch drug prices and national averages for health care costs. Rofecoxib, meloxicam, and nabumetone were considered COX-2 selective. Total costs were calculated and compared for 2 hypothetical scenarios in which patients used either COX-2-selective or nonselective NSAIDs. Sensitivity analyses were performed in which both the odds ratios (ORs) and the costs of NSAIDs and bleeding episodes were varied. RESULTS: A total of 1,491 bleeding complications occurred in 4400 coumarin users: among the 221 (15%) NSAID users with a bleeding episode, 96% used a nonselective NSAID and 4% used a COX-2-selective NSAID. The adjusted OR of a bleeding episode for nonselective compared with COX-2-selective NSAIDs was 3.07 (95% CI, 1.18-8.03). The estimated mean cost of a bleeding episode was 478 per patient. Factoring in the excess cost of a COX-2-selective NSAID compared with a nonselective NSAID, as well as the cost savings in averted bleeding episodes, it was determined that there would be net medical cost savings of 53,800 and 162 averted bleeding episodes if the entire patient group received COX-2-selective NSAIDs rather than nonselective NSAIDs. The sensitivity analysis showed these results to be robust. CONCLUSION: In this study population of concomitant coumarin and NSAID users, the reduction in bleeding complications with the use of more expensive COX-2-selective inhibitors was associated with net medical cost savings compared with nonselective NSAIDs.
The government agenda is clear. At the highest level users are involved in policy making. We as service providers need to show evidence that users views are elicited and used to improve the quality of care. The tool bag of techniques used to elicit users views will be explored--questionnaires, structured interviews, focus groups and innovative cognitive techniques such as perception score cards. We explore the continuum of user-led qualitative techniques to provider-led quantitative approaches. Building a framework of techniques which cover the diverse needs of people using a speech and language therapy (SLT) service is a challenge. A greater challenge is using the views of users to bring about meaningful change.
Government policies in the UK are promoting health care practitioners working in partnership with patients and clients as an important constituent of quality in health care delivery. However, for practitioners to work in this way requires experience of such partnerships in the educational preparation. The involvement of patients and clients (i.e. service users) and their carers in the curriculum has been encouraged and supported in England since the early 1990s. From 1998, the comprehensive involvement in all phases of programme provision has been a requirement, ensuring that service users have a real 'voice' in influencing the direction of programmes. Examples of good practice are provided, demonstrating a range of approaches in the different stages of the educational process. Issues to be considered for successful implementation are included. Benefits to education and patient/client care are identified on the basis of literature and recent experience. They are strongly associated with enhanced quality of care. The article argues for a need to continue to broaden implementation for the major benefits of influencing the attitudes and approaches of students, and empowering users, with the end result of enhancing the quality of care. A strategic approach is needed to make user involvement an effective and workable reality. The need for systematic evaluation of the outcomes and for publications is highlighted. The principle of service user involvement in educational preparation is deemed to be equally relevant in other countries.
OBJECTIVE: To present a user-centred method for introducing ICT in health care organisations, taking factors that influence acceptance into account. METHODS: User centred methods are used in combination with previous research regarding factors that affect user acceptance, in order to facilitate users' acceptance of new ICT tools. RESULTS: A method is presented that supports the introduction of ICT in team work. The method consists of three major steps; (1) the start-up seminar, (2) end user education and (3) continuous follow-up during the deployment phase. Important results of the start-up seminar are documentation of the users' expectations, and an agreement of ground rules that supports both the social norm factor and the users' perceived behavioural control. Education and follow-up also improve perceived behavioural control, and by involving super users perceived usefulness and ease of use can be improved through subjective norm. CONCLUSION: Key factors in the deployment process are; user participation, end user experience and education, and continuous follow-up of the process.
OBJECTIVES: This article proposes a model for dimensions involved in user evaluation of clinical information systems (CIS). The model links the dimensions in traditional CIS evaluation and the dimensions from the human-computer interaction (HCI) perspective. PROPOSED METHOD: In this article, variables are defined as the properties measured in an evaluation, and dimensions are defined as the factors contributing to the values of the measured variables. The proposed model is based on a two-step methodology with: (1) a general review of information systems (IS) evaluations to highlight studied variables, existing models and frameworks, and (2) a review of HCI literature to provide the theoretical basis to key dimensions of user evaluation. RESULTS: The review of literature led to the identification of eight key variables, among which satisfaction, acceptance, and success were found to be the most referenced. DISCUSSION: Among those variables, IS acceptance is a relevant candidate to reflect user evaluation of CIS. While their goals are similar, the fields of traditional CIS evaluation, and HCI are not closely connected. Combining those two fields allows for the development of an integrated model which provides a model for summative and comprehensive user evaluation of CIS. All dimensions identified in existing studies can be linked to this model and such an integrated model could provide a new perspective to compare investigations of different CIS systems.
We propose a model to interpret neurovascular X-ray angiogram (XRA) images interactively. This attentionally based interactive model (AIM) exploits human interaction as part of the solution. AIM posits two channels of interaction: context ("what to look for") and focus-of-attention ("where to look") as the locus of spatial information exchange between the user and the machine. In an AIM system, the user specifies a context (e.g., a carotid vessel) and directs the attentional spotlight to focus machine processing. AIM involves the user with the computer as integral partners and facilitates varying degrees of human intervention in the process. A hierarchy of context abstractions permits the system to function more autonomously (doing high-level tasks like extracting an arterial vessel) in routine interpretation and to require more user intervention (e.g., locating arterial wall boundaries) as the image complexity increases. This is especially important in medical imaging where the medical professional must have ultimate control and confidence in the system. Such technology can have a significant impact on the design of radiological systems.
Thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) or Buerger's disease is a nonatherosclerotic vascular disease of unknown etiology that occurs almost exclusively in young male tobacco users. The involvement of the medium-sized and small arteries and veins leads to ischemic complaints and trophic changes in the limbs. The authors report a case of Buerger's disease in a 29-year-old man, a heavy smoker, affecting the lower limbs and mesenteric vessels.
The community advisory board (CAB) of the Harlem Urban Research Center, which includes community service providers, Department of Health workers, and academics, identified substance users' health as an action priority. The CAB initiated the development of a wellness guide to provide informational support for substance users to improve access to community services. Focus groups of current and former users engaged substance users in the guide development process and determined the guide's content and "look." Focus group participants recommended calling this a "survival" guide. The guide will include three sections: (a) health information and how to navigate the system to obtain services, (b) a reference list of community services, and (c) relevant "hotline" numbers. The design will incorporate local street art. Substance users continue to shape the guide through ongoing art workshops. Dissemination and evaluation of the guide will continue to involve substance users, community service providers, and academics.
BACKGROUND: Government health care policy urges service providers to involve service users in the decision-making process. Research studies have recommended changes to current health care practice to facilitate this involvement. However, carers' organizations continue to highlight a gap between policy and practice in relation to involvement. AIM: The aim of the study reported on in this paper was to investigate involvement in a specific health care context with a view to identifying both opportunities for change and practical, realistic ways of bringing about that change. This was a qualitative case study using a case study design. The field site selected was a respite and assessment (23 bedded) ward within the Psychiatric Unit of a hospital specializing in the care of older people. Informal carers (n=20) and members of the multidisciplinary team (n=29) were interviewed about their views and experiences. The interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed. Family meetings, multidisciplinary team meetings and ward routines were the focus of non-participant observation. Field notes from these observations, together with the interview data were analysed using constant comparative method. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The reported experiences of carers in this study highlighted four markers of satisfactory involvement: feeling that information is shared; feeling included in decision making; feeling that there is someone you can contact when you need to; and feeling that the service is responsive to your needs. The majority of carers felt dissatisfied with the level of involvement. The situation we found echoed that found in other studies, i.e. the majority of informal carers (henceforth 'carers') interviewed were dissatisfied with the level of their involvement. However, our investigation, in which the views of health care professionals as well as those of carers were sought, provided invaluable insight into why this might be the case. Two main sources of difficulty were found: hospital systems and processes, and the relationship between nursing staff and carers. The argument made is that practitioners themselves must notice and challenge these barriers if carer involvement is to be facilitated.
OBJECTIVE: To review current knowledge of 'structural' interventions to reduce HIV transmission among injecting drug users. Structural interventions are defined as programs or policies that change the environments in which risk behavior occurs, without attempting to change knowledge, attitudes or social interaction patterns of the persons at risk. Structural interventions may either facilitate enactment of existing motives to avoid HIV transmission or make enacting risk behavior more difficult. METHODS: Nonquantitative literature review. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Preventing HIV infection among injecting drug users must be considered within the context of the continuing global spread of psychoactive drug use, and injecting drug use in particular. Some policies that are designed to reduce drug use may tend to increase HIV transmission among persons who do inject drugs. Evaluation of structural interventions can be difficult, as populations of drug users are usually the relevant unit of analysis. Typically, pre versus post comparisons must be used, hopefully with multiple pre and post data points. Structural interventions are often associated with 'large effects', increasing confidence that the intervention is the cause of the reduction in HIV-risk behavior. Increasing the availability of sterile injection equipment, through pharmacy sales or syringe exchange or both, is the most common and best-studied structural intervention for injecting drug users. The studies to date indicate that this usually, but not always, leads to large reductions in HIV-risk behavior. Involving drug users in the design and implementation of HIV-prevention programs can be considered a 'meta-structural' intervention that should lead to programs with increased effectiveness.
The excitement and fun of the design process is described in this article. The author makes a strong case for the active involvement of users throughout the formative stages of a project (i.e., from "kick-off" through schematic design and design development). Design techniques involving on-site work sessions ("squatters") and interactive gaming are discussed. The discussions of architect selection and cost control during design are of particular importance.
The involvement of mental health service users in service delivery is a new and growing phenomenon. Such involvement is complex, given the history of paternalism in the mental health system, the power differential between service providers and service users, and the very differing views each group holds on multiple issues. Unless such differences are addressed, there can be no meaningful involvement. Service user involvement needs to apply to all aspects of the service delivery system, including professional training, service design, delivery, evaluation, and research. User/survivors, and their organizations, have developed a body of experience and knowledge that needs to be recognized and respected. Unless there are multiple opportunities for ongoing and open dialogue on these many difficult issues, real user involvement will not occur.
AIMS: To compare psychiatric morbidity between 176 female drug users with lifetime involvement in prostitution (prostitutes) and 89 female drug users with no involvement (non-prostitutes) in Glasgow, Scotland. METHOD: The Revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R) measured current neurotic symptoms. RESULTS: Prostitutes were more likely to report adult physical (OR 1.8) or sexual abuse (OR 2.4), to have attempted suicide (OR 1.7) and to meet criteria for current depressive ideas (OR 1.8) than non-prostitutes. Seventy-two percent of prostitutes and sixty-seven percent of non-prostitutes met criteria for a level of current neurotic symptoms likely to need treatment (CIS-R > or = 18). Being in foster care (OR 8.9), being prescribed medication for emotional problems in the last 30 days (OR 7.7), adult sexual abuse (OR 4.5), poly drug use in the last 30 days (OR 3.6) and adult physical abuse (OR 2.6) were significantly associated with a CIS-R score of > or = 18 for prostitutes using multiple logistic regression. CONCLUSIONS: Higher rates of adulthood abuse among prostitutes may explain the greater proportion of prostitutes than non-prostitutes meeting criteria for current depressive ideas and lifetime suicide attempts.