"So what"?
Apart from being the title of a superb piece recorded by the Miles Davis Quintet it is the acid test of many a critical reader of research papers. Nowhere is that more true than in the world of mental health nursing research. Now I know many people can discuss research methods in a passionate and frankly frighteningly intensity, but to many readers of a more casual (or practical ) ilk it's the findings they care about.
Many will wonder about how long until this finding will drizzle down to the realities of practice, or indeed find it's way into policy.
There will of course be those who just evoke the "so what" response and move on..
This question of relevance became all the clearer at the Network for Psychiatric Nursing Research conference in Oxford in September. It was a rousing success and well attended . Delegates were present from over 20 countries, and more PhD's present than you could shake a stick at.
The opening adress was in the form of a conversation between Professor Alan Simpson and that venerable sage Professor Peter Nolan. Now Peter is a raconteur that always manages to leave you wanting more, he has a wealth of stories, views and perspectives that have come from a long (sorry Peter) and thoughtful life.He was fascinating to listen to but possibly kept his final and most challenging thought until last.
I am paraphrasing rather badly here, but essentially he asked when will researchers in the field of mental health start utilising thier skills to ask questions that really matter. Projects , he mused, may be fascinating and personally rewarding ; but where was their relevance to the users of the services provided.
An eloquent "So what" , that challenged those present and perhaps the wider community to consider how they could use their knowledge to achieve outcomes that would hold real meaning and relevance to those living lives challenged by poor mental health.
Perhaps a challenge for research agendas that are challenging and radical.
Perhpas an era of findings that cannot be dismissed with a cynical "so what".
This is a very interesting question - but perhaps more a pressing one is how can the research results already extant be translated into day-to-day practice?
ReplyDeleteI am currently re-visiting work on a modern, mainstreamed (located in a general hospital - hidden in the back corner, of course...) 25-bed inpatient ward and am astounded that, apart from a few special souls, the whole staff there are apparently indifferent to both the suffering of their patients and entirely disrespectful of them in passing comments and handovers.
Some seem to be out of the ark (saying that it has been a "good day" if everyone is quiet, and dismissive of the tragic incarceration of these patients for long periods due to the absence of their treating doctors.
What can be done about this? How is the so-what factor related? How can the MHN career path be massaged so that those PhDs and other brains get back in touch with the lived reality of life on the ward?
Hi there, and good to hear from you. What you describe is of course an ever present problem with staff being told what they should do, or what they must do. There's no doubt that working in these enviorments can be very difficult and sometimes all parties become brutalised by what happens. Happily there has been work that has demnostrated that care settings can be rejuvenated by working more creatively with the staff in them. I would commend the work of Nick Bowles for a start and by a coincidence he is the only follower i have on this Blog. why not connect up wuth him?
ReplyDeleteI was a victim of weak erection and premature ejaculation,for the
ReplyDeletepast 4 years,and for this past 4 years my life was horrible,one day i saw a
post of a man being cured by a Doctor, called Dr Imoloa,so i contact him
and i get the cure from him,and my 4 years disaster and pains were like a
dreams so if you have this problem of weak erection and premature
ejaculation he also have cure for lupus disease, corneal ulcer, polio disease,
Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy,joint pain,
fetal alcohol spectrum, schizophrenia, lichen planus, cancer, diabetes, asthma syphilis, and many more... you can contact Dr Imoloa for help,Email drimolaherbalmademedicine@gmail.com / whatssapp +2347081986098.
-