Browsing by Person "Walker, Esther"

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Care provision in Scotland: background, policy context and research.
(RCN, 2003-02) Dewar, Belinda; O'May, Fiona; Walker, Esther
In a two-part article about care of older people in Scotland, Belinda Dewar and colleagues report on a study designed to explore the views of specific groups on the provision of free personal care for older people.
Care provision in Scotland: experiences of services and priorities for improvement.
(Royal College of Nursing, 2003-03) Dewar, Belinda; O'May, Fiona; Walker, Esther
Last month Belinda Dewar and colleagues gave the background and policy context of a research study looking at the views of recipients of free care. This month they consider older people's accounts of care tasks important to them and suggest priorities for change.
Experiential learning: issues for supervision
(1999) Dewar, Belinda; Walker, Esther
This paper reports on an evaluation of work-based learning within a postregistration community health nursing degree programme. Work-based learning is primarily concerned with the process of learning and with encouraging the individual to be explicit about how and what they learn so that their experiential learning may be assessed and accredited. The methodology of Illuminative Evaluation was adopted, with case studies (n=6) used as the means of exploring in depth the different perspectives of the major stakeholders (that is, the students, their workplace supervisors and their academic supervisors). The data comprised documentation, participant and nonparticipant observation, interviews and focus groups. The initial aim was to examine the potential benefits of work-based learning to students and to describe its impact on their practice. However, what emerged through the course of inquiry was a gap between the educational philosophy of work-based learning and the way in which work-based learning was delivered within the department concerned. Work-based learning provides educators with an opportunity to debate openly fundamental issues about the nature of educational practice; in particular, about the role of the supervisor in facilitating students' learning. As the evaluation highlights, if this debate does not occur, existing educational practice remains unchanged and the potential benefits to students of this new educational philosophy are not realized. Furthermore, it is by engaging in a reflective process in relation to their own experience that educators can begin to understand how to facilitate that process in others
Guidelines to Facilitate the Involvement of Lay Carers in the Care Planning of the Person with Dementia in Hospital.
(Queen Margaret University College, 1999) Walker, Esther; Dewar, Belinda; Riddell, Helen
How do we facilitate carers' involvement in decision making?
(2001) Walker, Esther; Dewar, Belinda
Background. Government health care policy urges service providers to involve service users in the decision-making process. Research studies have recommended changes to current health care practice to facilitate this involvement. However, carers' organizations continue to highlight a gap between policy and practice in relation to involvement. Aim. The aim of the study reported on in this paper was to investigate involvement in a specific health care context with a view to identifying both opportunities for change and practical, realistic ways of bringing about that change. This was a qualitative case study using a case study design. The field site selected was a respite and assessment (23 bedded) ward within the Psychiatric Unit of a hospital specializing in the care of older people. Informal carers (n=20) and members of the multidisciplinary team (n=29) were interviewed about their views and experiences. The interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed. Family meetings, multidisciplinary team meetings and ward routines were the focus of non-participant observation. Field notes from these observations, together with the interview data were analysed using constant comparative method. Results and Conclusions. The reported experiences of carers in this study highlighted four markers of satisfactory involvement: feeling that information is shared; feeling included in decision making; feeling that there is someone you can contact when you need to; and feeling that the service is responsive to your needs. The majority of carers felt dissatisfied with the level of involvement. The situation we found echoed that found in other studies, i.e. the majority of informal carers (henceforth 'carers') interviewed were dissatisfied with the level of their involvement. However, our investigation, in which the views of health care professionals as well as those of carers were sought, provided invaluable insight into why this might be the case. Two main sources of difficulty were found: hospital systems and processes, and the relationship between nursing staff and carers. The argument made is that practitioners themselves must notice and challenge these barriers if carer involvement is to be facilitated
Moving on from interpretivism: an argument for constructivist evaluation
(2000) Walker, Esther; Dewar, Belinda
This paper examines the research process in the context of an evaluation of work-based learning. The findings of the evaluation are used to illustrate issues around roles and relationships within interpretivist research where a separation is maintained between the researcher, as investigator, and the participants, as the subject of their investigation. The discussion focuses on: the threatening nature of evaluation and the way in which that affects the process of inquiry and learning; the ways in which people's perceptions of research can act as barriers to the implementation of change; and the consequences of this role separation for practice development. In exploring these issues the paper argues for an approach to evaluation research which (a) emphasizes collaboration, (b) is orientated to change and (c) treats the evaluation process as a learning opportunity through which professionals acquire the skills and knowledge to investigate and advance their own practice
Public Attitudes to the Provision of Free Personal Care: Focus Group Research.
(Scottish Executive Central Research Unit, 2001) Dewar, Belinda; O'May, Fiona; Walker, Esther; Machin, D.; McShane, D.
Public Attitudes to the Provision of Free Personal Care: Focus Group Research. Research Findings No.5.
(Queen Margaret University College, 2004) Dewar, Belinda; O'May, Fiona; Walker, Esther
This research, which was commissioned to inform the deliberations of the Care Development Group, explores the views of specific groups of older people regarding services and the provision of a free personal care system for older people in Scotland.