Philip Scott, Penny Ross and Deborah Prytherch
The objective of this review is to address two research questions: What is evidence‐based best practice for intra‐hospital inpatient handovers? What areas need further research…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this review is to address two research questions: What is evidence‐based best practice for intra‐hospital inpatient handovers? What areas need further research? The paper aims to take a particular interest in the interpersonal skills involved in successful handover, theoretically‐based approaches to implementing improvements in handovers, and whether there is sufficient data to construct an evaluation methodology.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes the form of a narrative synthesis based on search of PubMed, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library.
Findings
A total of 82 papers, comprising 29 implementation studies, 13 conceptual models or improvement methods, five subject reviews and 35 background papers were identified. None of the studies met the normal parameters of evidence‐based medicine, but this is unsurprising for a complex healthcare service intervention.
Research limitations/implications
Those papers published in English between 2000 and July 2010 that were indexed in CINAHL, Medline or the Cochrane Library or found opportunistically were the only ones to be reviewed. The authors did not search any grey literature or hand‐search any journals.
Practical implications
The evidence is sufficient to justify widespread adoption of the guiding principles for inpatient handover best practice, provided that concurrent evaluation is also undertaken.
Originality/value
This is the first comprehensive review published in the peer‐reviewed literature that examines the evidence base for the practice of inpatient handovers across healthcare professions and specialties.
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Investigates current research activities in public library services. Draws from interviews with 20 chief librarians. Findings reinforce earlier perceptions and data about research…
Abstract
Investigates current research activities in public library services. Draws from interviews with 20 chief librarians. Findings reinforce earlier perceptions and data about research activities in the sector. Analysis explores factors such as research purpose, role of corporate strategy, limitations imposed by lack of suitably trained staff, support and funding. Presents evidence that research activity and method is largely confined to “simpler” issues of operational service development and does not extend to “harder” research questions addressing the social and economic impact of the service. Concludes that the restricted research capacity may endanger the realisation of the strategic potential of the service.
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Cathy Parker, Nikos Ntounis, Steve Millington, Simon Quin and Fernando Rey Castillo-Villar
The purpose of this paper is to document the results and the impact of the ESRC-funded High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020), a project designed to take the existing academic knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to document the results and the impact of the ESRC-funded High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020), a project designed to take the existing academic knowledge relating to retail and high street change directly to UK High Streets, to improve local decision-making and, ultimately, their vitality and viability.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a systematic literature review, and by following the tenets of engaged scholarship, the authors identified 201 factors that influence the vitality and viability of town centres. Through the consensus-building Delphi technique, a panel of 20 retail experts identified the top 25 priorities for action.
Findings
Taking a place management approach led to the development of a more strategic framework for regeneration, which consisted of repositioning, reinventing, rebranding and restructuring strategies (4R’s of regeneration). Collaboration with the project towns resulted in identification of the strategy area that would add the most value, and the impact of the 4R’s and the top 25 priorities is demonstrated via numerous town examples.
Originality/value
Knowledge exchange projects, such as High Street UK2020, have an important contribution to make, not by developing even more theory that is unlikely to get utilised, instead their contribution is to bring existing theory into practical use.