University of Otago Reports Findings in Health Services (Flourishing together: research protocol for developing methods to better include disabled people’s knowledge in health policy development): Health and Medicine – Health Services

2022 NOV 01 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Health and Medicine - Health Services is the subject of a report. According to news originating from Wellington, New Zealand, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “To positively impact the social determinants of health, disabled people need to contribute to policy planning and programme development. However, they report barriers to engaging meaningfully in consultation processes.”

Financial support for this research came from Health Research Council of New Zealand.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Otago, “Additionally, their recommendations may not be articulated in ways that policy planners can readily use. This gap contributes to health outcome inequities. Participatory co-production methods have the potential to improve policy responsiveness. This research will use innovative methods to generate tools for co-producing knowledge in health-related policy areas, empowering disabled people to articulate experience, expertise and insights promoting equitable health policy and programme development within Aotearoa New Zealand. To develop these methods, as an exemplar, we will partner with both tangata whaikaha Maori and disabled people to co-produce policy recommendations around housing and home (kainga)-developing a nuanced understanding of the contexts in which disabled people can access and maintain kainga meeting their needs and aspirations. Participatory co-production methods with disabled people, embedded within a realist methodological approach, will develop theories on how best to co-produce and effectively articulate knowledge to address equitable health-related policy and programme development-considering what works for whom under what conditions. Theory-building workshops (Phase 1) and qualitative surveys (Phase 2) will explore contexts and resources (i.e., at individual, social and environmental levels) supporting them to access and maintain kainga that best meets their needs and aspirations. In Phase 3, a realist review with embedded co-production workshops will synthesise evidence and co-produce knowledge from published literature and non-published reports. Finally, in Phase 4, co-produced knowledge from all phases will be synthesised to develop two key research outputs: housing policy recommendations and innovative co-production methods and tools empowering disabled people to create, synthesise and articulate knowledge to planners of health-related policy.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “This research will develop participatory co-production methods and tools to support future creation, synthesis and articulation of the knowledge and experiences of disabled people, contributing to policies that positively impact their social determinants of health.”

For more information on this research see: Flourishing together: research protocol for developing methods to better include disabled people’s knowledge in health policy development. BMC Health Services Research, 2022;22(1):1252. BMC Health Services Research can be contacted at: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England. (BioMed Central - http://www.biomedcentral.com/; BMC Health Services Research - http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmchealthservres/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Rachelle A. Martin, Dept. of Medicine, Rehabilitation Teaching and Research Unit (RTRU) | Te Whare Whakamatutu, University of Otago, Wellington South, PO Box 7343, Wellington, 6242, New Zealand. Additional authors for this research include Angelo P. Baker, Kirsten Smiler, Lesley Middleton, Jean Hay-Smith, Nicola Kayes, Catherine Grace, Te Ao Marama Apiata, Joanne L. Nunnerley and Anna E. Brown.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08655-2. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

The publisher’s contact information for the journal BMC Health Services Research is: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England.

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