More information about each of the projects, supervisors and duration are given below. Please contact supervisors directly for an informal discussion if you would like to know more about one of these projects. There is a modest stipend of £1000 for each internship.
The Centre for Academic Primary Care at the University of Bristol is a leading centre for primary care research and teaching in the UK, and one of nine centres that form the NIHR School for Primary Care Research. We are part of Bristol Medical School, an internationally recognised centre of excellence for population health sciences research and teaching.
To apply for a CAPC internship, please complete the Summer internships 2022 - application form (Office document, 15kB) and return it to the lead supervisor (see project details below for contacts). Please share the details with anyone you think might be interested.
Applications close on 30 April 2022.
Project 1: Exploring general practice readiness for implementing a trauma-informed approach: a document analysis of health policies
Project lead: Dr Natalia Lewis
Contact: nat.lewis@bristol.ac.uk
Background
TAPCARE (Trauma-informed Approaches in Primary CARE) study is a programme of research on trauma-informed (TI) health systems [1]. TI approach is a framework for a system change intervention that transforms the organisational culture and practices to address the universal prevalence and impact of violence and trauma among patients and healthcare providers.
Our earlier systematic review identified only six studies of TI approaches in primary care with limited theoretical development and some conflicting evidence for improvement in patient outcomes. All studies identified limited organisational readiness for change as a major barrier to implementing a TI approach [2].
This project aims to investigate policy perspectives on the factors that influence organisational readiness to implement a TI approach in general practice.
Methods
The intern will work on a document analysis component of a qualitative study in four general practices. The supervisor will provide up to 20 written policies, guidelines, and working documents relevant to the implementation of TI approach in general practice and an Excel proforma and matrix for data extraction and coding. The intern will apply the Ready Extract Analyse Distil (READ) approach [3] and framework method [4] to analyse policy and contextual documents. The intern will read the documents, extract data (i.e., document characteristics, target audience, cited evidence, recommendations, key messages) into an Excel proforma, and code in an Excel framework matrix. The intern will write descriptive accounts of the themes. The intern and supervisor will meet weekly to discuss analysis and writing.
Learning objectives
- To apply READ approach and framework method to document analysis in health policy research.
- To co-author an academic paper.
Outputs
Report, conference abstract, co-authorship on future publication.
Further Reading
- Trauma-informed healthcare approaches: a guide for primary care. New York, NY: Springer Berlin Heidelberg; 2019.
- Weiner, B.J. A theory of organizational readiness for change. Implementation Sci 4, 67 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-4-67
- Dalglish, S.L., Khalid, H., McMahon, S.A. Document analysis in health policy research: the READ approach, Health Policy and Planning, Volume 35, Issue 10, December 2020, Pages 1424–1431, https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czaa064
- Gale, N.K., Heath, G., Cameron, E. et al. Using the framework method for the analysis of qualitative data in multi-disciplinary health research. BMC Med Res Methodol 13, 117 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-13-117
- Trauma-informed approaches in primary care and community mental health care (TAPCARE) study
- Example of policy document: Trauma-informed system: Knowledge and Skills Framework: Implementation Toolkit
Project 2: The content of primary care telephone consultations
Project lead: Dr Peter Edwards
Contact: peter.edwards@bristol.ac.uk
Background
The One in a Million Archive collected over 300 video and audio recordings of routine adult face-to-face consultations in 2014-15, with 23 different GPs from 12 practices.1 The archive has subsequently been used in over 20 different research projects, exploring doctor-patient interactions and potential areas for improvement, as well as being a resource for teaching.
Changes in the way GPs want or have had to work, accelerated by the covid-19 pandemic, has led to change a higher proportion of consultations being undertaken via telephone. To better understand the nature and impact of telephone consulting on clinical care, the One in a Million team have planned another round of data collection, focussing on telephone consultations, including consultations from allied healthcare professionals such as advanced nurse practitioners as well as GPs.
Research question
How many and what type of problems are raised during telephone consultations?
Methods
You will be supported by Dr Edwards to code the content of a subsection of the consultations using a validated tool.[2] This will be achieved by:
- support and training on how to apply the tool
- listening to recorded consultations alongside transcripts
- identifying different ‘problems’ discussed and the associated ‘issues’ attached to each problem.
Additional information
The privacy of the patients and healthcare professionals in the archive is of upmost importance to the research team and you will be asked to keep all viewings of the recordings / transcripts confidential in line with good medical/research practice.
Learning objectives
- Experience of working on a primary care research project
- Write a research Gantt chart
- Learn about research governance and data protection
- Be able to write a short scientific report of your work
- Present your work at a local or national meeting.
Outputs
Report, conference abstract, co-authorship on future publication.
Further reading
- Jepson M, Salisbury C, Ridd MJ, et al. The ‘One in a Million’ study: creating a database of UK primary care consultations. Br J Gen Pract. 2017;67(658):e345. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp17X690521
- Procter S, Stewart K, Reeves D, et al. Complex consultations in primary care: a tool for assessing the range of health problems and issues addressed in general practice consultations. BMC Fam Pract. 2014;15(1):105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2296-15-105