A beginner’s guide to ethnography in patient market research July 27, 2016 Ethnography is officially defined as’a qualitative research approach that involves relative submersion into the setting to be studied‘- or, to put it more simply, it’s when researchers observe participants in their own environment to learn first-hand their opinions and how they behave. With its roots in anthropological study, ethnography is helpful in a number of research areas, but especially so in patient market research because it allows researchers to get right to the heart of how patients think, behave and feel in an environment they are comfortable in. Ethnography gives the rich insights you can achieve through traditional qualitative research but in a natural setting where participants can really open up – which can be incredibly beneficial when it comes to some of the sensitive subjects touched upon in medical market research. written by GKA Read more
Who’s who in mental health? A medical market research overview July 14, 2016 The lowdown Despite the stigma still surrounding it, mental health problems are incredibly common in the UK. In fact, it is estimated that 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year, making mental health the largest cause of disability in the UK.Of those that do suffer from mental health issues, women are more likely than men to have a common mental health problem and are also twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Sadly, despite mental health problems affecting a quarter of the population, government funding has fallen in recent years. written by GKA Read more
3 top tips for recruiting nurses in healthcare fieldwork June 30, 2016 Recruiting nurses for healthcare fieldwork can be something of a tricky task. Despite there being a total of 377,000 nurses in NHS England, issues such as workloads and time restraints can result in more resistance to market research invitations than we have seen in the past. Added to geographical limitations that can naturally occur with focus groups or face to face interviews and of course the difficulty of recruiting specialist nurses in rare therapy areas, and it’s easy to see why recruiting nurses can be a challenge for even the most competent market research recruitment team. So, what can you do to make recruitment easier? Read on for our top tips; written by GKA Read more
A Medical Fieldwork Guide to PAH May 13, 2016 The Lowdown Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disorder characterised by abnormally high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery. Around 5,000 people in the UK have PAH and because of the nature of the condition it becomes more common in people over the age of 40. Due to early symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue and breathlessness that are common to many other conditions, PAH, is hard to diagnose– in fact, statistics show that around 3,000 people remain undiagnosed. As a result, time from symptom onset to diagnosis is usually more than two years, and the disease is often not recognised until itis relatively advanced. written by GKA Read more
How support groups can revolutionise your patient market research February 29, 2016 Why do we need support groups for patient recruitment? Support groups provide a place for patients and family members to come together to educate, comfort and give strength to one another when dealing with disease or illness. With thousands of members who also fit a variety of research criteria, support groups not only greatly benefit patients, but are also a vital source for patient recruitment in medical fieldwork, enabling researchers to reach out to a totally new sample of respondents. Support groups often have various ways of contacting patients – whether online, through written newsletters, via social media and websites or during face-to-face group sessions – meaning that they can not only help spread the word to their members about upcoming research projects, but that the respondents are also easy to contact and can be sourced according to individual market research projects. Patients will also be more likely to participate if the invite for the research is coming from a source they trust such as a support group. written by GKA Read more
Junior doctors and healthcare market research February 26, 2016 Defining the junior doctor Junior doctors are the clinical leaders of the future and make up approximately half of today’s medical workforce. Statistics from 2014 actually suggest this number may be even higher, with junior doctors making up 61,510 of a total 104,912 doctors in the UK. In some specialist areas, junior doctors account for an even greater percentage of the workforce; in A&E 4,560 of the 6,148 doctors are junior doctors, whilst in Paedeatrics there are 5,033 junior doctors compared to just 2,836 consultants. written by GKA Read more