Improved understanding of health service provision for people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in relation to their perspectives provides vital information guiding efforts to meet their ongoing needs. This thesis presents a qualitative study of service provision for people with MS in one health authority in the UK. The philosophical/theoretical underpinnings of the study were social realism and symbolic interactionism. The study explored three key questions appertaining to service provision: how do people with MS utilise health services in this authority?; what problems occur in daily interactions between service users and providers that affect how needs are met for people with MS?; and how does the structure of current health services in this authority affect people with MS? The study was carried out in four stages incorporating: initial exploration; analysis of initial data with design and implementation of required pilot studies; a retrospective examination of cases of people newly diagnosed with MS; and a prospective examination of service use which involved monitoring how people with clinically confirmed MS used services over a 10-month period. Three main themes arose from the study: trust in the relationship between health professionals and people with MS; how health professionals and people with MS express their knowledge of MS; and service planning and design factors that influence whether and how the needs of people with MS are met. It was concluded that better understanding and improved promotion of trust between health and social care professionals and people with MS are critical to increasing the satisfaction of the latter with service provision. The findings are discussed in relation to an analysis of individual and collective factors which promote and impede the development of trust.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:446258 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Green, Quentine |
| Publisher | City University London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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