TY - JOUR
T1 - Sensemaking and the co-production of safety: a qualitative study of primary medical care patients
AU - Rhodes, Penny
AU - McDonald, Ruth
AU - CAMPBELL, Stephen
AU - Daker-white, Gavin
AU - Sanders, Caroline
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - This study explores the ways in which patients make sense of 'safety' in the context of primary medical care. Drawing on qualitative interviews with primary care patients, we reveal patients' conceptualisation of safety as fluid, contingent, multi-dimensional, and negotiated. Participant accounts drew attention to a largely invisible and inaccessible (but taken for granted) architecture of safety, the importance of psycho-social as well as physical dimensions and the interactions between them, informal strategies for negotiating safety, and the moral dimension of safety. Participants reported being proactive in taking action to protect themselves from potential harm. The somewhat routinised and predictable nature of the primary medical care consultation, which is very different from 'one off' inpatient spells, meant that patients were not passive recipients of care. Instead they had a stock of accumulated knowledge and experience to inform their actions. In addition to highlighting the differences and similarities between hospital and primary care settings, the study suggests that a broad conceptualisation of patient safety is required, which encompasses the safety concerns of patients in primary care settings.
AB - This study explores the ways in which patients make sense of 'safety' in the context of primary medical care. Drawing on qualitative interviews with primary care patients, we reveal patients' conceptualisation of safety as fluid, contingent, multi-dimensional, and negotiated. Participant accounts drew attention to a largely invisible and inaccessible (but taken for granted) architecture of safety, the importance of psycho-social as well as physical dimensions and the interactions between them, informal strategies for negotiating safety, and the moral dimension of safety. Participants reported being proactive in taking action to protect themselves from potential harm. The somewhat routinised and predictable nature of the primary medical care consultation, which is very different from 'one off' inpatient spells, meant that patients were not passive recipients of care. Instead they had a stock of accumulated knowledge and experience to inform their actions. In addition to highlighting the differences and similarities between hospital and primary care settings, the study suggests that a broad conceptualisation of patient safety is required, which encompasses the safety concerns of patients in primary care settings.
KW - Primary care
KW - Quality of care
KW - Safety
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84956654897&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.mendeley.com/research/sensemaking-coproduction-safety-qualitative-study-primary-medical-care-patients
U2 - 10.1111/1467-9566.12368
DO - 10.1111/1467-9566.12368
M3 - Article
SN - 0141-9889
VL - 38
SP - 270
EP - 285
JO - Sociology of Health Illness
JF - Sociology of Health Illness
IS - 2
ER -