Exploring shared decision making in HIV nursing care
Shared decision making (SDM) is an important part of promoting self-management and empowerment for patients with long-term health conditions. There has been little empirical research on the nature and practice of SDM in HIV care, in spite of national guidelines promoting the approach.
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Systematic review
NHIVNA sponsored the following Systematic review:
More information about audits, research and systematic reviews can be found below.
Research
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" asked Alice
"That depends a good deal on where you would like to get to," Said the cat
Lewis Carroll (1865) Alice’s adventure in Wonderland
Research is a systematic and rigorous process of enquiry, which aims to develop and test explanatory concepts and theories .The ultimate aim of research is to contribute to a scientific body of knowledge. The scientific knowledge can then be used to inform patient care, service delivery, staff development /training and further research.
There are ranges of different research methods that are used to investigation health and health services. It is not possible to place research methods in a hierarchy of excellence, as different research methods are appropriate for addressing different research questions.
The researcher is therefore required to choose the most appropriate method and design in order to address a particular research question.
Useful resources to assist researcher in deciding on the most appropriate research design:
- John Creswell 2008 Research design: Qualitative, Quantitative and mixed methods approaches 3rd edition Sage Publications
- Ann Bowling 2009 Research Methods in health: Investigating health and health services Open University Press
- Catherine Dawson 2009 Introduction to research methods 4th edition, How to books ltd.
Systematic review
What is a systematic review?
A systematic review is a systematic literature review focused on a research question that tries to identify, appraise and select and synthesize all high quality research evidence relevant to that research question .A systematic review aims to provide an exhaustive summary of the literature relevant to the research question.
What is a Cochrane Review?
Cochrane Reviews are systematic reviews of research in healthcare and health policy that are published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. There are three types of Cochrane Review:
- 1. Intervention reviews assess the benefits and harms of interventions used in healthcare and health policy.
- 2. Diagnostic test accuracy reviews assess how well a diagnostic test performs in diagnosing and detecting a particular disease.
- 3. Methodology reviews address issues relevant to how systematic reviews and clinical trials are conducted and reported.
Cochrane Reviews base their findings on the results of trials, which meet certain quality criteria, since the most reliable studies will provide the best evidence for making decisions about health care. Authors of Cochrane Reviews apply methods which reduce the impact of bias across different parts of the review process, including:
- 1. Identification of relevant studies from a number of different sources (including unpublished sources);
- 2. Selection of studies for inclusion and evaluation of their strengths and limitations on the basis of clear, predefined criteria;
- 3. Systematic collection of data;
- 4. Appropriate synthesis of data.
Performing a systematic review
The Cochrane handbook outlines eight general steps for systematic reviews.
- 1. Define the review question and develop a criteria for including studies
- 2. Search for studies
- 3. Select studies and collect data
- 4. Assess risk of bias in included studies
- 5. Analyze data and undertake meta-analyses
- 6. Address reporting biases
- 7. Present results and "summary of findings" tables
- 8. Interpret results and draw conclusions
Browse the Handbook online at handbook.cochrane.org
Training on how to undertake systematic reviews are available and strongly recommended prior to embarking on your first systematic review.
Useful websites
www.joannabriggs.edu.au
www.cochrane.org
