Primary Care Research: Traditional and Innovative Approaches (Research Methods for Primary Care) Book

Primary Care Research covers traditional medical-epidemiological methods and non-traditional qualitative methods which are relevant to the discipline of primary medical care. Primary care, defined as the medical care of first contact, includes family medicine, primary care internal medicine, paediatrics and obstetricsgynaecology; tasks include diagnosing early and undifferentiated (unlabelled) problems, preventing disease or ameliorating disease, and care of problems other than strictly medical ones. This volume examines some basic methods that have been and can be used to study questions facing researchers in the maturing discipline of primary care research. More than just a summary of research methods, many chapters contain examples that can serve as models for readers planning studies of their own. Other chapters deal with the standards appropriate to primary care research. The goal of the volume is to integrate social science methods into the framework of clinical investigations of the human problems presented to primary care professionals. Included are such topics as refining the research question, how the question dictates the method used, epidemiologic standards, case study methods and combining methods in research. Two chapters are written by nurses. Contributors represent a number of countries, thus providing an international perspective.Read More