Related Experiment Videos
Health care research: what is it about?
A Liberati1, E Chatziandreou, O S Miettinen
1Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy.
Quality Assurance in Health Care : the Official Journal of the International Society for Quality Assurance in Health Care
|January 1, 1989
Summary
Distinguishing health care research from health research is crucial. Health care research focuses on care processes, while health research examines health outcomes and their relation to care.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Public Health Policy
Background:
- Growing public policy interest in healthcare quality assurance and cost containment.
- Confusion exists regarding the precise definition and scope of health care research.
- The distinction between health care research and health research is often overlooked.
Purpose of the Study:
- To clarify the fundamental differences between health care research and health research.
- To emphasize the distinct objects of study for each research type.
- To highlight the importance of maintaining these distinctions for effective policy and administration.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis and definition of terms.
- Distinction based on the object of study (care processes vs. health phenomena).
- Illustrative example using the North Karelia project to demonstrate consequences of conflation.
Main Results:
- Health care research should focus on describing the nature and processes of care.
- Health research (applied) investigates health phenomena and their frequency in relation to care.
- Conflating the two can lead to negative consequences, particularly in evaluating care effectiveness.
Conclusions:
- Properly defining health care research as distinct from health research is essential.
- This distinction supports informed policy and administrative decisions.
- Mischaracterizing research can impede understanding of care impacts on health outcomes.