Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

LIVE: Thursday 2nd May 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)

Quality sleep is essential for health. But what happens to our brains when sleep patterns are disturbed? Join our experts to explore the interplay between sleep disruption and neurological diseases, and the questions that you need to be asking your patients to help you prevent the harmful effects of sleep deprivation.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
International Journal for Equity in Health
Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Commentary

Fair publication of qualitative research in health systems: a call by health policy and systems researchers

Authors: Karen Daniels, Rene Loewenson, Asha George, Natasha Howard, Gergana Koleva, Simon Lewin, Bruno Marchal, Devaki Nambiar, Ligia Paina, Emma Sacks, Kabir Sheikh, Moses Tetui, Sally Theobald, Stephanie M. Topp, Anthony B. Zwi, Social science approaches for research and engagement in health policy & systems (SHaPeS) thematic working group of Health Systems Global, Regional Network for Equity in Health in East and Southern Africa (EQUINET), and Emerging Voices for Global Health

Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health | Issue 1/2016

Login to get access

Excerpt

An open letter from Trisha Greenhalgh et al. [1] to the editors of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) triggered wide debate by health policy and systems researchers (HPSRs) globally on the inadequate recognition of the value of qualitative research and the resulting deficit in publishing papers reporting on qualitative research [2]. One key dimension of equity in health is that researchers are able to disseminate their findings and that they are taken into account in a fair and just manner, so that they can inform health policy and programmes. The Greenhalgh et al. letter and editorial responses [3, 4] were actively discussed within “SHAPES”, a thematic group within Health Systems Global, focused on Social Science approaches for research and engagement in health policy & systems (http://​healthsystemsglo​bal.​org/​twg-group/​6/​Social-science-approaches-for-research-and-engagement-in-health-policy-amp-systems/​) and within EQUINET, a regional network working on health equity research in East and Southern Africa (www.​equinetafrica.​org). Our discussion precipitated in this follow up open letter/commentary, which has 170 co-signatories. Collectively, we feel that barriers to publication of qualitative research limit publication of many exemplary studies, and their contribution to understanding important dimensions of health care, services, policies and systems. …
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Greenhalgh T, Annandale E, Ashcroft R, Barlow J, Black N, Bleakley A, Boaden R, Braithwaite J, Britten N, Carnevale F, et al. An open letter to The BMJ editors on qualitative research. BMJ. 2016;352:i563.CrossRefPubMed
2.
Shuval K, Harker K, Roudsari B, Groce NE, Mills B, Siddiqi Z, Shachak A. Is qualitative research second class science? A quantitative longitudinal examination of qualitative research in medical journals. PLoS One. 2011;6:e16937.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
3.
4.
Loder E, Groves T, Schroter S, Merino JG, Weber W. Qualitative research and The BMJ. BMJ. 2016;352:i641.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Pope C, Mays N. Reaching the parts other methods cannot reach: an introduction to qualitative methods in health and health services research. BMJ. 1995;311:42–5.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
6.
7.
8.
Gilson L, Hanson K, Sheikh K, Agyepong IA, Ssengooba F, Bennett S. Building the field of health policy and systems research: social science matters. PLoS Med. 2011;8:e1001079.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
9.
Bohren MA, Vogel JP, Hunter EC, Lutsiv O, Makh SK, Souza JP, Aguiar C, Saraiva Coneglian F, Diniz AL, Tuncalp O, et al. The Mistreatment of Women during Childbirth in Health Facilities Globally: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review. PLoS Med. 2015;12:e1001847. discussion e1001847.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
10.
Colvin CJ, de Heer J, Winterton L, Mellenkamp M, Glenton C, Noyes J, Lewin S, Rashidian A. A systematic review of qualitative evidence on barriers and facilitators to the implementation of task-shifting in midwifery services. Midwifery. 2013;29:1211–21.CrossRefPubMed
11.
Glenton C, Colvin CJ, Carlsen B, Swartz A, Lewin S, Noyes J, Rashidian A. Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of lay health worker programmes to improve access to maternal and child health: qualitative evidence synthesis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;10:CD010414.
12.
Grady D. Report shows widespread mistreatment by health workers during childbirth. In New York Times. Manhattan, New York: The New York Times Company; 2015.
13.
Glenton C, Lewin S, Norris SL. Using evidence from qualitative research to develop WHO guidelines(Chapter 15). In: World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development. 2nd ed. Geneva: WHO; 2016.
14.
Lewin S, Glenton C, Munthe-Kaas H, Carlsen B, Colvin CJ, Gulmezoglu M, Noyes J, Booth A, Garside R, Rashidian A. Using qualitative evidence in decision making for health and social interventions: an approach to assess confidence in findings from qualitative evidence syntheses (GRADE-CERQual). PLoS Med. 2015;12:e1001895.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
15.
Mead N, Bower P. Patient-centredness: a conceptual framework and review of the empirical literature. Soc Sci Med. 2000;51:1087–110.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Angel S, Frederiksen KN. Challenges in achieving patient participation: A review of how patient participation is addressed in empirical studies. Int J Nurs Stud. 2015;52:1525–38.CrossRefPubMed
17.
Axelsson R, Axelsson SB. Integration and collaboration in public health--a conceptual framework. Int J Health Plann Manage. 2006;21:75–88.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Charles C, DeMaio S. Lay participation in health care decision making: a conceptual framework. J Health Polit Policy Law. 1993;18:881–904.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Walker L, Gilson L. ‘We are bitter but we are satisfied’: nurses as street-level bureaucrats in South Africa. Soc Sci Med. 2004;59:1251–61.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Gilson L, Doherty J, Loewenson R, Francis V. Challenging Inequity through Health Systems Final Report Knowledge Network on Health Systems. Geneva: WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health; 2007.
21.
Feldhaus I, Silverman M, LeFevre AE, Mpembeni R, Mosha I, Chitama D, Mohan D, Chebet JJ, Urassa D, Kilewo C, et al. Equally able, but unequally accepted: Gender differentials and experiences of community health volunteers promoting maternal, newborn, and child health in Morogoro Region, Tanzania. Int J Equity Health. 2015;14:70.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
22.
Kim J, Motsei M. “Women enjoy punishment”: attitudes and experiences of gender-based violence among PHC nurses in rural South Africa. Soc Sci Med. 2002;54:1243–54.CrossRefPubMed
23.
24.
Kok MC, Kea AZ, Datiko DG, Broerse JE, Dieleman M, Taegtmeyer M, Tulloch O. A qualitative assessment of health extension workers’ relationships with the community and health sector in Ethiopia: opportunities for enhancing maternal health performance. Hum Resour Health. 2015;13:80.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
25.
Lewin S, Munabi-Babigumira S, Glenton C, Daniels K, Bosch-Capblanch X, van Wyk BE, Odgaard-Jensen J, Johansen M, Aja GN, Zwarenstein M, Scheel IB. Lay health workers in primary and community health care for maternal and child health and the management of infectious diseases. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010;(3). Art. No.:CD004015. doi:10.​1002/​14651858.​CD004015.​pub3.
26.
Glenton C, Lewin S, Scheel IB. Still too little qualitative research to shed light on results from reviews of effectiveness trials: A case study of a Cochrane review on the use of lay health workers. Implement Sci. 2011;6:53.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
27.
Belinguer G. Una Riforma per la Salute. Bari: De Donato; 1979.
28.
Laurell AC, Noriega M, Martínez S, Villegas J. Participatory research on workers health. Soc Sci Med. 1992;34:603–13.CrossRefPubMed
29.
Rosskam E G, B, Mateski, M, McCarthy, V, Siegrist, J, Smith S, Wege N, Zsoldos L, Marowsky I, Rodriguez GM, Williamson E, James S, Tyler J. Stressed and Fatigued on the Ground and in the Sky: Changes from 2000 – 2007 in civil aviation workers’ conditions of work: A global study of 116 countries in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Middle East, North America, Latin/South America, and Europe in the post – 9/11 era. UK: ITWF; 2009
30.
Loewenson R, Laurell AC, Hogstedt C, D’Ambruoso L, Shroff Z. Participatory action research in health systems: a methods reader. Harare: TARSC, AHPSR, WHO, EQUINET; 2014.
31.
Ahlin T, Nichter M, Pillai G. Health insurance in India: what do we know and why is ethnographic research needed. Anthropol Med. 2016;23:102–24.CrossRefPubMed
32.
Dao A, Nichter M. The social life of health insurance in low- to middle-income countries. An Anthropological Research Agenda. Med Anthropol Q. 2016;30(1):122-43. doi:10.​1111/​maq.​12191. Epub 2015 Mar 27.
33.
Adongo PB, Tabong PT, Asampong E, Ansong J, Robalo M, Adanu RM. Beyond Knowledge and Awareness: Addressing Misconceptions in Ghana’s Preparation towards an Outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease. PLoS One. 2016;11:e0149627.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
34.
Elston JW, Moosa AJ, Moses F, Walker G, Dotta N, Waldman RJ, Wright J: Impact of the Ebola outbreak on health systems and population health in Sierra Leone. J Public Health (Oxf) 2015 [Epub ahead of print]
35.
Kruk ME, Myers M, Varpilah ST, Dahn BT. What is a resilient health system? Lessons from Ebola. Lancet. 2015;385:1910–2.CrossRefPubMed
36.
Othieno C, Kitazi N, Mburu J, Obondo A, Mathai M, Loewenson R. Use of participatory, action and research methods in enhancing awareness of mental disorders in Kariobangi, Kenya. Int Psychiatry. 2009;(1)6:18–20.
37.
38.
39.
Oke M. Using narrative methods in crosscultural research with Mongolian and Australian women survivors of domestic violence. Qual Res J. 2008;8:2–19.CrossRef
40.
Catalani C, Minkler M. Photovoice: a review of the literature in health and public health. Health Educ Behav. 2010;37:424–51.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Fair publication of qualitative research in health systems: a call by health policy and systems researchers
Authors
Karen Daniels
Rene Loewenson
Asha George
Natasha Howard
Gergana Koleva
Simon Lewin
Bruno Marchal
Devaki Nambiar
Ligia Paina
Emma Sacks
Kabir Sheikh
Moses Tetui
Sally Theobald
Stephanie M. Topp
Anthony B. Zwi
Social science approaches for research and engagement in health policy & systems (SHaPeS) thematic working group of Health Systems Global, Regional Network for Equity in Health in East and Southern Africa (EQUINET), and Emerging Voices for Global Health
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
International Journal for Equity in Health / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1475-9276
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-016-0368-y

Other articles of this Issue 1/2016

International Journal for Equity in Health 1/2016 Go to the issue

Research

Inequities in access to depression treatment: results of the Brazilian National Health Survey – PNS

Research

Households, the omitted level in contextual analysis: disentangling the relative influence of households and districts on the variation of BMI about two decades in Indonesia

Erratum

Erratum to: Economic crisis and health inequalities: evidence from the European Union

Research

“We’re checking them out”: Indigenous and non-Indigenous research participants’ accounts of deciding to be involved in research

Research

The effect of childhood and current economic status on depressive symptoms in South Korean individuals: a longitudinal study

Research

Regional health-care inequity in children’s survival in Zhejiang Province, China