Interviewing older people about their experiences of emergency hospital admission: methodology in health services research

Rachel Thwaites, Jon Glasby, Nick Le Mesurier, Rosemary Littlechild

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
277 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This essay makes the case for increased use of patient-centred methodologies, which involve patients and the public, in the area of emergency admissions research in the United Kingdom. Emergency admission research has rarely made use of the patient voice when attempting to find a rate of ‘inappropriate’ admission for older people, instead focusing on professional viewpoints and more abstract tools. We argue for the important insights that patients and their families bring to emergency admissions research and for the need to listen to and use these voices to find more holistic responses to the issue of unplanned admissions to hospital for those aged over 65. This area of health services research is highly complex, but without involving the patient viewpoint we risk not understanding the full story of events leading up to admission and what preventative measures might have helped, and therefore we also risk developing less effective, simplistic solutions. In the face of increasing challenges to the National Health Service’s ability to provide safe, effective and affordable care for older people, researchers need to listen to those with direct and longitudinal experience of their ill health and admission.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)124-129
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Health Services Research & Policy
Volume24
Issue number2
Early online date17 Sept 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2019

Keywords

  • emergency hospital admission
  • inappropriate admissions
  • older people
  • patient and public involvement
  • qualitative methods

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