1. Transforming primary healthcare by including the stakeholders involved in delivering care to people living in poverty: EQUIhealThY study protocol
- Author
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Catherine Hudon, Francine Lemire, Ann C. Macaulay, Jeannie Haggerty, Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier, Sophie Boyer, Martin Lemieux, Émilie Goulet, Mireille Lambert, Luce Pélissier-Simard, Sophie Dupéré, Pierre Pluye, Marianne De Laat, Isabelle Gaboury, Christine Loignon, Martin Fortin, and Louise Champagne
- Subjects
Male ,Participatory research ,Canada ,Community-Based Participatory Research ,Interprofessional Relations ,Participatory action research ,Knowledge transfer ,Medically Underserved Area ,Health informatics ,Community Networks ,Health administration ,InformationSystems_GENERAL ,03 medical and health sciences ,Study Protocol ,0302 clinical medicine ,Nursing ,Poverty Areas ,Health care ,Photovoice ,Medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Healthcare Disparities ,10. No inequality ,Poverty ,Qualitative Research ,030505 public health ,Primary Health Care ,business.industry ,Nursing research ,Health Policy ,1. No poverty ,Middle Aged ,Primary care ,3. Good health ,Research Design ,Social competence ,Female ,0305 other medical science ,business ,Delivery of Health Care - Abstract
Background Ensuring access to timely and appropriate primary healthcare for people living in poverty is an issue facing all countries, even those with universal healthcare systems. The transformation of healthcare practices and organization could be improved by involving key stakeholders from the community and the healthcare system in the development of research interventions. The aim of this project is to stimulate changes in healthcare organizations and practices by encouraging collaboration between care teams and people living in poverty. Our objectives are twofold: 1) to identify actions required to promote the adoption of professional practices oriented toward social competence in primary care teams; and 2) to examine factors that would encourage the inclusion of people living in poverty in the process of developing social competence in healthcare organizations. Methods/design This study will use a participatory action research design applied in healthcare organizations. Participatory research is an increasingly recognized approach that is helpful for involving the people for whom the research results are intended. Our research team consists of 19 non-academic researchers, 11 academic researchers and six partners. A steering committee composed of academic researchers and stakeholders will have a decision-making role at each step, including knowledge dissemination and recommendations for new interventions. In this project we will adopt a multiphase approach and will use a variety of methods, including photovoice, group discussions and interviews. Discussion The proposed study will be one of only a few using participatory research in primary care to foster changes aimed at enhancing quality and access to care for people living in poverty. To our knowledge this will be the first study to use photovoice in healthcare organizations to promote new interventions. Our project includes partners who are targeted for practice changes and improvements in delivering primary care to persons living in poverty. By involving knowledge users, including service recipients, our study is more likely to produce a transformation of professional practices and encourage healthcare organizations to take into account the needs of persons living in poverty.
- Published
- 2013