Evaluating the Effect of Treatment from the Patient's Perspective
Item
Title
Evaluating the Effect of Treatment from the Patient's Perspective
Description
EJOM (2010), Paterson, Charlotte.
Abstract
This paper argues that acupuncture should be evaluated on the basis of whether it improves people's health in ways that are important to individual patients. This focus on patient-centred outcomes and an individualised approach is in keeping with the underlying philosophy of East Asian medicine. In acupuncture practice there is an ongoing dialogue between the practitioner's expert knowledge and the patient's individual knowledge and experience of their health and illness. However when it comes to research, the patient's perspective and subjective experience is often removed, and other 'objective' criteria are used to assess whether the treatment is helpful. There is now, however, a move towards patient-centred outcomes and there are many scientifically sound questionnaires that can be used. Qualitative research has been used to understand what treatment effects acupuncture patients' experience, to prioritise and to develop a number of patient-centred questionnaires, or sets of questionnaires which attempt to measure these. In this paper I briefly describe this work, focusing especially on individualised questionnaires and their use in evaluating acupuncture and other complementary therapies. Using an example from cancer support care I explore how qualitative and quantitative methods can be combined to provide rich and meaningful evaluations of the effects of treatment.
Alternative Title
EJOM
Creator
Date
Date Created
2/28/2015
Language
English
Subject
Type
Journal Article
issn
1351-6647
issue
4
volume
6