(1991). Soft Systems Methodology in Action. European Journal of Information Systems: Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 215-216.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057%2Fejis.1991.37.pdf

Soft Systems Methodology in Action

Background 
There is an increasing international interest in patient and public involvement (PPI) in research, yet relatively little robust evidence exists about its impact on health and social care research.
 
Objective
 
To identify the impact of patient and public involvement on health and social care research.
 
Design
 
A systematic search of electronic databases and health libraries was undertaken from 1995 to 2009. Data were extracted and quality assessed utilizing the guidelines of the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination 2009 and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP). Grey literature was assessed using the Dixon-Woods et al. (2005) checklist.
 
Inclusion criteria
 
All study types that reported the impact PPI had on the health and/or social care research study.
 
Main results
 
A total of 66 studies reporting the impact of PPI on health and social care research were included. The positive impacts identified enhanced the quality and appropriateness of research. Impacts were reported for all stages of research, including the development of user-focused research objectives, development of user-relevant research questions, development of user-friendly information, questionnaires and interview schedules, more appropriate recruitment strategies for studies, consumer-focused interpretation of data and enhanced implementation and dissemination of study results. Some challenging impacts were also identified.
 
Conclusion
 
This study provides the first international evidence of PPI impact that has emerged at all key stages of the research process. However, much of the evidence base concerning impact remains weak and needs significant enhancement in the next decade.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2012.00795.x

Mapping the impact of patient and public involvement on health and social care research: a systematic review

The upshot of these needs for change is both dismaying and exciting, both disturbing in the destruction of long-familiar patterns of dealing with human suffering, and paradoxically hopeful in raising the possibility that significant failures in our health care systems of the past — limited access to medical care and grossly inadequate public sector “non-systems”, for example — may now be addressed more successfully.

Administration and policy in mental health

What fosters or prevents interprofessional teamworking in primary and community care?: A literature review

Interdisciplinary team work is increasingly prevalent, supported by policies and practices that bring care closer to the patient and challenge traditional professional boundaries. To date, there has been a great deal of emphasis on the processes of team work, and in some cases, outcomes. This study draws on two sources of knowledge to identify the attributes of a good interdisciplinary team; a published systematic review of the literature on interdisciplinary team work, and the perceptions of over 253 staff from 11 community rehabilitation and intermediate care teams in the UK. These data sources were merged using qualitative content analysis to arrive at a framework that identifies characteristics and proposes ten competencies that support effective interdisciplinary team work. Ten characteristics underpinning effective interdisciplinary team work were identified: positive leadership and management attributes; communication strategies and structures; personal rewards, training and development; appropriate resources and procedures; appropriate skill mix; supportive team climate; individual characteristics that support interdisciplinary team work; clarity of vision; quality and outcomes of care; and respecting and understanding roles. We propose competency statements that an effective interdisciplinary team functioning at a high level should demonstrate.

/pdf/ten-principles-of-good-interdisciplinary-team-work-2rzogo2tiw.pdf

Ten principles of good interdisciplinary team work

This pilot study aimed to compare the effect of companion robots (PARO) to participation in an interactive reading group on emotions in people living with moderate to severe dementia in a residential care setting. A randomized crossover design, with PARO and reading control groups, was used. Eighteen residents with mid- to late-stage dementia from one aged care facility in Queensland, Australia, were recruited. Participants were assessed three times using the Quality of Life in Alzheimer's Disease, Rating Anxiety in Dementia, Apathy Evaluation, Geriatric Depression, and Revised Algase Wandering Scales. PARO had a moderate to large positive influence on participants' quality of life compared to the reading group. The PARO intervention group had higher pleasure scores when compared to the reading group. Findings suggest PARO may be useful as a treatment option for people with dementia; however, the need for a larger trial was identified.

Exploring the effect of companion robots on emotional expression in older adults with dementia: A pilot randomized controlled trial

Interagency and interprofessional working has often been operationalised through the development of integrated, multiprofessional teams in the UK. However, there is considerable ambivalence reported about the success of such teams. This paper reports on two evaluations of different types of inter-agency/intra-agency, interdisciplinary/unidisciplinary teams. One study used a soft systems methodology to evaluate a health and social care team for people with enduring mental health needs and the other used a pluralistic framework to examine integrated nursing teams in primary care. In both studies, the team-working arrangements influenced the decisions made by the team members such that client care became increasingly responsive and proactive. These changes were made possible by two processes. First, information transaction was augmented and was instrumental in supporting effective client-related decision-making. Second, there was enhanced support for decision-making, especially in respect of problem solving. However, the increased autonomy of the team members had the potential to marginalise those outside the team from decision-making. It is suggested that working within a team can impact on the decisions made by team members, which exceeds a collection of individual decisions. The strengths of complex multiprofessional teams for service users may be realised if the processes of decision-making are respected.

Decision-making in teams: issues arising from two UK evaluations.

Purpose: This paper reports on some of the findings of a literature review commissioned to explore integrated care for older people. Methods: The process of revising included finding and selecting literature from multidisciplinary sources, and encompassed both published papers and ‘grey’ literature, i.e. material which had not been reviewed for publication. Results: The study found that thinking has moved on from a focus on the problems of accessing services to exploring ways in which they may function in an integrated way. Conclusions: The study shows how thinking on integrated care for older people has developed, and knowledge of micro, mezzo and macro strategies is now more available.

/pdf/a-literature-review-to-explore-integrated-care-for-older-45xc3bl3af.pdf

A literature review to explore integrated care for older people

This paper is based on data from older people concerning their experiences of relocating to a care home. It provides a framework to promote re-thinking of ways that older people are and can be involved in decision-making when making the move to a care home.

/pdf/making-a-move-care-home-residents-experiences-of-relocation-3rw7zdqhh7.pdf

Making a move: care-home residents' experiences of relocation

This pilot study aimed to compare the effect of companion robots (PARO) to participation in an interactive reading group on emotions in people living with moderate to severe dementia in a residential care setting. A randomized crossover design, with PARO and reading control groups, was used. Eighteen residents with mid- to late-stage dementia from one aged care facility in Queensland, Australia, were recruited. Participants were assessed three times using the Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s Disease, Rating Anxiety in Dementia, Apathy Evaluation, Geriatric Depression, and Revised Algase Wandering Scales. PARO had a moderate to large positive influence on participants’ quality of life compared to the reading group. The PARO intervention group had higher pleasure scores when compared to the reading group. Findings suggest PARO may be useful as a treatment option for people with dementia; however, the need for a larger trial was identified.

Glenda Cook

Papers

Exploring the effect of companion robots on emotional expression in older adults with dementia: A pilot randomized controlled trial

Decision-making in teams: issues arising from two UK evaluations.

A literature review to explore integrated care for older people

Making a move: care-home residents' experiences of relocation

Exploring the effect of companion robots on emotional expression in older people with dementia : a pilot randomized controlled trial