Using Participatory Learning & Action (PLA) research techniques for inter-stakeholder dialogue in primary healthcare: an analysis of stakeholders' experiences.

Plain English Summary: It is important for health care workers to know the needs and expectations of their patients. Therefore, service users have to be involved in research. To achieve a meaningful dialogue between service users, healthcare workers and researchers, participatory methods are needed.

Material practices for meaningful engagement: An analysis of participatory learning and action research techniques for data generation and analysis in a health research partnership.

Background: The material practices which researchers use in research partnerships may enable or constrain the nature of engagement with stakeholder groups. Participatory learning and action (PLA) research approaches show promise, but there has been no detailed analysis of stakeholders' and researchers' experiences of PLA techniques for data generation and co-analysis.

Objectives: To explore stakeholders' and researchers' experiences of PLA techniques for data generation and co-analysis.

Supporting the use of theory in cross-country health services research: a participatory qualitative approach using Normalisation Process Theory as an example.

Objectives: To describe and reflect on the process of designing and delivering a training programme supporting the use of theory, in this case Normalisation Process Theory (NPT), in a multisite cross-country health services research study.

Design: Participatory research approach using qualitative methods.

Setting: Six European primary care settings involving research teams from Austria, England, Greece, Ireland, The Netherlands and Scotland.

Exploring barriers to primary care for migrants in Greece in times of austerity: Perspectives of service providers.

Background: Migration in Europe is increasing at an unprecedented rate. There is an urgent need to develop 'migrant-sensitive healthcare systems'. However, there are many barriers to healthcare for migrants.

Implementing guidelines and training initiatives to improve cross-cultural communication in primary care consultations: a qualitative participatory European study.

Background: Cross-cultural communication in primary care is often difficult, leading to unsatisfactory, substandard care. Supportive evidence-based guidelines and training initiatives (G/TIs) exist to enhance cross cultural communication but their use in practice is sporadic. The objective of this paper is to elucidate how migrants and other stakeholders can adapt, introduce and evaluate such G/TIs in daily clinical practice.

Engaging migrants and other stakeholders to improve communication in cross-cultural consultation in primary care: a theoretically informed participatory study.

Objectives: Guidelines and training initiatives (G/TIs) are available to support communication in cross-cultural consultations but are rarely implemented in routine practice in primary care. As part of the European Union RESTORE project, our objective was to explore whether the available G/TIs make sense to migrants and other key stakeholders and whether they could collectively choose G/TIs and engage in their implementation in primary care settings.

Setting: As part of a comparative analysis of 5 linked qualitative case studies, we used purposeful and snowball sampling to recruit migrants and other key stakeholders in primary care settings in Austria, England, Greece, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Does COPD have a clinically relevant impact on hearing loss? A retrospective matched cohort study with selection of patients diagnosed with COPD.

Objectives: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a multisystemic disease has a measurable and biologically explainable impact on the auditory function detectable in the laboratory. This study tries to clarify if COPD is also a significant and clinically relevant risk factor for hearing impairment detectable in the general practice setting.

Design: Retrospective matched cohort study with selection of patients diagnosed with COPD.

New concepts for ICD-classification of common mental disorders from the perspective of general medical practice.

Background: This study aimed at obtaining views of Austrian general practitioners (GPs) regarding the appropriateness of the proposed new ICD11-PHC classifications 'anxious depression', 'bodily stress syndrome' and 'health anxiety'and on the usefulness of their diagnostic criteria in the general medical setting.

Methods: This qualitative study used a focus group method for data collection.

Results: There was general support for the additional new concept of anxious depression.

Healthcare for migrants, participatory health research and implementation science--better health policy and practice through inclusion. The RESTORE project.

Background: This is a time of unprecedented mobility across the globe. Healthcare systems need to adapt to ensure that primary care is culturally and linguistically appropriate for migrants. Evidence-based guidelines and training interventions for cultural competence and the use of professional interpreters are available across European healthcare settings.

Patient and preceptor attitudes towards teaching medical students in General Practice.

Background: Curricula in most western medical universities include teaching in the primary care setting as core elements. This affects GP-teachers, their patients and their interaction. Therefore, it was the aim of this study to assess the influence of the presence of medical students in the teaching practice on the attitudes of both GPs and patients.

Communication in cross-cultural consultations in primary care in Europe: the case for improvement. The rationale for the RESTORE FP 7 project.

The purpose of this paper is to substantiate the importance of research about barriers and levers to the implementation of supports for cross-cultural communication in primary care settings in Europe. After an overview of migrant health issues, with the focus on communication in cross-cultural consultations in primary care and the importance of language barriers, we highlight the fact that there are serious problems in routine practice that persist over time and across different European settings. Language and cultural barriers hamper communication in consultations between doctors and migrants, with a range of negative effects including poorer compliance and a greater propensity to access emergency services.

REsearch into implementation STrategies to support patients of different ORigins and language background in a variety of European primary care settings (RESTORE): study protocol.

Background: The implementation of guidelines and training initiatives to support communication in cross-cultural primary care consultations is ad hoc across a range of international settings with negative consequences particularly for migrants. This situation reflects a well-documented translational gap between evidence and practice and is part of the wider problem of implementing guidelines and the broader range of professional educational and quality interventions in routine practice. In this paper, we describe our use of a contemporary social theory, Normalization Process Theory and participatory research methodology--Participatory Learning and Action--to investigate and support implementation of such guidelines and training initiatives in routine practice.

Antibacterial resistances in uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women: ECO·SENS II data from primary health care in Austria.

Background: Uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTI) are a frequent reason for consultation of women in primary health care. To avoid therapy failure and development of resistances, the choice of an antibiotic should be based on the knowledge of recent local resistance data but these data are scarce for the Austrian primary health care sector. Within the context of the ECO·SENS II study it was the aim to obtain appropriate and relevant local resistance data and describe the changes in the resistance pattern in comparison to the ECO·SENS study.

Quality circles for pharmacotherapy to modify general practitioners' prescribing behaviour for generic drugs.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: In Austria, the participation of general practitioners (GPs) in so-called 'quality circles for pharmacotherapy' (QCPs) was taken as a special approach to increase the use of generics and possibly, to improve the quality and efficiency of prescribing patterns in primary care. This study aimes at exploring GPs' perception of QCPs whether they think that taking part has helped to change their prescribing habits, their opinions on generics in general and the issues that arise for them in attempting to promote their use.

Methods: Qualitative analysis was used to evaluate QCP protocols for their potential to evoke discussion in the group and for their relevance to our study questions.

A 'minimal core curriculum' for Family Medicine in undergraduate medical education: a European Delphi survey among EURACT representatives.

Background: Family Medicine/General Practice (FM/GP) has not developed in a similar way worldwide. In countries that are not primary care oriented, the discipline of FM/GP may be less developed because this is not a career option for medical graduates. In such a situation, FM/GP will not be regarded as a required clinical experience during medical school.

Cancer patients' perception of information exchange between hospital-based doctors and their general practitioners.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: The quality of communication between health care professionals is a key issue determining health outcomes in cancer care. This study aims to find out what importance cancer patients in Austria attach to information exchange between hospital-based doctors and their general practitioners (GPs) and how patients perceive this flow of information.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, cancer patients seeking help at a community-based organization in the voluntary sector (Viennese Cancer League) were polled with a 16-item questionnaire.

[Recruitment of physicians in Austria for graduate medical training in psychiatry].

Objectives: Recruitment and retention of suitable graduates for graduate education in psychiatry is one of the major challenges for the specialty. This study aimed to explore how many physicians intended to be psychiatrists and how many of those physicians practising as psychiatrists originally desired this area of expertise.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a self-administered 12 item questionnaire was sent out twice to all licensed physicians (n = 8127), based on the register of the Vienna Medical Chamber.

Assessment of publication output in the field of general practice and family medicine and by general practitioners and general practice institutions.

Purpose: The discipline of family medicine (FM) lacks a comprehensive methodology, which can be applied as a standard for assessing overall research output in both the field of FM and by general practitioners (GPs)/general practice institutions. It was the aim of this study to develop a sensitive search strategy for assessing publication output in the field of FM independent of the author's profession or affiliation and by GPs/general practice institutions independent of their field of scientific interest.

Methods: Literature searches limited to the year 2005 were conducted in PubMed and ISI Web of Sciences (ISI WoS).

ICD-10 or DSM-IV? Anhedonia, fatigue and depressed mood as screening symptoms for diagnosing a current depressive episode in physically ill patients in general hospital.

Objective: To explore the usefulness of "anhedonia", "fatigue" and "depressed mood" as screening symptoms for predicting a depressive episode in physically ill patients.

Method: 290 patients filled in a modified version of the Patient Questionnaire and were subsequently assessed by psychiatrists with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI; ICD-10 version).

Results: 63 patients suffered from a current depressive episode according to the CIDI.

Policy and attitude-related reasons for gender disparity in post allocation for graduate medical education in Austria.

Objective: A previous study found that in Austria 50.3% physicians (m: 43.2%, f: 58.

Detection of dementia in primary care: comparison of the original and a modified Mini-Cog Assessment with the Mini-Mental State Examination.

Background Dementia is considered widely under-detected in primary care, and general practitioners (GPs) frequently ask for easy to use tools to assist in its early detection.Aim To determine the degree of correlation between the Mini-Cog Assessment (Mini-Cog) as performed by GPs and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).Design of study This was a prospective study (2005, 2006) comparing two cognitive screening instruments.

Early clinical exposure in medical curricula across Europe: an overview.

Background: Many faculties of medicine now include programmes using early clinical exposure (ECE) to introduce medical students to important topics in medicine.

Objective: To sketch the landscape of ECE in Europe, describing existing courses.

Methods: A survey questionnaire was developed by the Basic Medical Education Committee of the European Academy of Teachers in General Practice (EURACT).

Breaking bad news to cancer patients: survey and analysis.

Purpose: To find out how patients perceived the disclosure of news about their cancer as regards the physician counselling and how they perceived the flow of information between hospital-based and family physicians.

Methods: 272 cancer patients were polled with a 16-item questionnaire.

Results: 252 cancer patients, 92.

Specialty selection and relative job satisfaction of family physicians and medical specialists in Austria.

Aim: To estimate the relative job satisfaction of Austrian family physicians and other specialists with respect to whether or not they obtained training in the desired specialty.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we re-examined the previous data on allocation of medical training posts in Austria. All board-certified physicians practicing in Vienna were surveyed with a 12-item questionnaire.