Annals of family medicine
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Annals of family medicine · Jul 2008
Using multiple sources of knowledge to reach clinical understanding of chronic fatigue syndrome.
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), or myalgic encephalitis (ME), is a contentious condition and often a diagnosis of exclusion. Current policy in the United Kingdom recommends management in primary care. We explored how patients with CFS/ME and family physicians understand this condition and how their understanding might affect the primary care consultation. ⋯ Family physicians obtain information about CFS/ME from their nonprofessional world, which they incorporate into their professional realm. Patients and physicians describe the use of the discourse of science within consultations about CFS/ME. This form of shared understanding could lead to a positive collaborative interaction. Family physicians need a biomedical, evidence-based knowledge about CFS/ME. There is potential to use the rich knowledge base that patients can bring to consultations in training initiatives directed at family physicians.
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Annals of family medicine · Jul 2008
Evaluative criteria for qualitative research in health care: controversies and recommendations.
We wanted to review and synthesize published criteria for good qualitative research and develop a cogent set of evaluative criteria. ⋯ Qualitative research is not a unified field. Most manuscript and grant reviewers are not qualitative experts and are likely to embrace a generic set of criteria rather than those relevant to the particular qualitative approach proposed or reported. Reviewers and researchers need to be aware of this tendency and educate health care researchers about the criteria appropriate for evaluating qualitative research from within the theoretical and methodological framework from which it emerges.
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Annals of family medicine · Jul 2008
Healing in primary care: a vision shared by patients, physicians, nurses, and clinical staff.
We wanted to understand the views of patients and clinicians on the central concept of healing and to identify major facilitators of and barriers to promoting healing in primary care. ⋯ Patients and health care team members share a vision of healing and agree on ways to enhance the process in primary care.
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Annals of family medicine · Jul 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialIntegration of depression and hypertension treatment: a pilot, randomized controlled trial.
We wanted to examine whether integrating depression treatment into care for hypertension improved adherence to antidepressant and antihypertensive medications, depression outcomes, and blood pressure control among older primary care patients. ⋯ A pilot, randomized controlled trial integrating depression and hypertension treatment was successful in improving patient outcomes. Integrated interventions may be more feasible and effective in real-world practices, where there are competing demands for limited resources.