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Investigating Video reflexive ethnography as a healthcareQuality Improvement Methodology

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posted on 2025-01-20, 11:07 authored by Thomas P. Furniss

Background: Healthcare faces increasing costs and complexities which the usual approaches to Quality Improvement (QI) cannot address. Video-reflexive ethnography (VRE) claims to do so. VRE involves researchers agreeing with participants a subject for videoing, videoing day to day activities, selecting video clips, and showing these clips to participants at reflexive focus groups – from which participants develop their practice.

Aims: Investigate the use of VRE as a QI methodology, specifically fidelity and flexibility in the application of VRE, the feasibility and acceptability of VRE in practical and ethical terms, and how power dynamics inherent within the VRE methodology can be managed.

Methods: As originally conceived, this thesis would have consisted of a VRE project, which would have been evaluated. The Covid pandemic meant this was infeasible. Instead, a systematic review of published VRE papers was used to assess the fidelity of VRE projects to the VRE methodology; and semi-structured interviews with researchers and clinicians who had used VRE for research or QI.

Findings: The flexibility of VRE methodology means care must be taken when applying it, however only 1 clear case of low fidelity VRE was found. Generally, VRE was acceptable to both researchers and participants, but again, care should be taken when using VRE – especially regarding the feasibility of research in terms of ethical approvals and informed consent, as these impact on what it is possible to video. Power relationships and dynamics are under-considered in the VRE literature, when using VRE for QI it would benefit from further researcher consideration and reflexivity of this aspect of VRE.

Conclusions: VRE is a valuable tool in the QI toolbox, as it can address problems that other QI methods cannot. But care needs to be taken when ap plying VRE.

History

Supervisor(s)

Carolyn Tarrant; Jason Hughes

Date of award

2024-12-02

Author affiliation

Department of Population Health Sciences

Awarding institution

University of Leicester

Qualification level

  • Doctoral

Qualification name

  • PhD

Language

en

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