Janet Harvey

Conducting a critical interpretive synthesis of the literature on access to healthcare by vulnerable groups

BackgroundConventional systematic review techniques have limitations when the aim of a review is to construct a critical analysis of a complex body of literature. This article offers a reflexive account of an attempt to conduct an interpretive review of the literature on access to healthcare by vulnerable groups in the UKMethodsThis project involved the development and use of the method of Critical Interpretive Synthesis (CIS). This approach is sensitised to the processes of conventional systematic review methodology and draws on recent advances in methods for interpretive synthesis.ResultsMany analyses of equity of access have rested on measures of utilisation of health services, but these are problematic both methodologically and conceptually. A more useful means of understanding access is offered by the synthetic construct of candidacy. Candidacy describes how peoples eligibility for healthcare is determined between themselves and health services. It is a continually negotiated property of individuals, subject to multiple influences arising both from people and their social contexts and from macro-level influences on allocation of resources and configuration of services. Health services are continually constituting and seeking to define the appropriate objects of medical attention and intervention, while at the same time people are engaged in constituting and defining what they understand to be the appropriate objects of medical attention and intervention. Access represents a dynamic interplay between these simultaneous, iterative and mutually reinforcing processes. By attending to how vulnerabilities arise in relation to candidacy, the phenomenon of access can be better understood, and more appropriate recommendations made for policy, practice and future research.DiscussionBy innovating with existing methods for interpretive synthesis, it was possible to produce not only new methods for conducting what we have termed critical interpretive synthesis, but also a new theoretical conceptualisation of access to healthcare. This theoretical account of access is distinct from models already extant in the literature, and is the result of combining diverse constructs and evidence into a coherent whole. Both the method and the model should be evaluated in other contexts.

Marketing schools and consumer choice

States that the concept of marketing is regarded with suspicion by many in education because of its commercial implications. Marketing is seen as a potential tool for the application of market forces and is therefore regarded as ethically undesirable. Argues that the methods and ideology of commercial marketing, if properly understood and correctly applied by professionals in education, can be beneficial rather than harmful, and may be imperative for schools and colleges wishing to attract students and to offer them the most relevant provision.

Evaluating primary care research networks

This paper presents a conceptual framework and tool kit, generated from the evaluation of five primary care research networks (PCRNs) funded by the then London, National Health Service (NHS) Executive. We employed qualitative methods designed to match the most important characteristics of PCRNs, conducting five contextualized case studies covering the five networks. A conceptual evaluation framework based on a review of the organization science literature was developed and comprised the broad, but inter-related organizational dimensions of structure, processes, boundaries and network self-evaluation as input factors and strategic emphasis as epitomized by network objectives. These dimensions were comprised of more detailed subdimensions designed to capture the potential of the networks to create ideas and knowledge, or intellectual capital, the key construct upon which our evaluation tool kit was based. We considered the congruence, or fit, between network objectives and input factors: greater congruence implied greater ability to achieve implicit and overt objectives. We conclude that network evaluation must take place, over time, recognizing stage of development and potential for long-term viability, but within a generic framework of inputs and outputs. If there is a good fit or congruence between their input factors and network objectives, networks will be internally coherent and able to operate at optimum effectiveness.