The Knowledge of Mental Healthcare Workers Possess to Deliver Appropriate Sexual Health Care Message - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal – Health Science and Medicine Research Proposal – Health Science and Medicine Introduction Delivering sexual messages in an informative way to patients is not one of the priorities in healthcare services in the UK. There are not any specific programmes designed for healthcare workers to guide and train them about delivering such kind of messages. A lot of cases of sexual harassment are reported in the past, and patients have reported being physically harassed by even some of the healthcare workers while seeking health care services (Kaye, 2012). The number of reported cases has increased in the past creating a need for such types of training programmes for the healthcare service workers (Pattman, 2010). Literature Review Acton (2013) and Coll (2012) are of the opinion that patients under the care of mental health care workers are vulnerable as they often do not have the moral sense of what is right or wrong. It becomes obligatory for the mental health care workers to look after all needs of and prepare them to communicate with them. For instance, if a patient is sexually harassed then the healthcare service workers must teach them how to communicate and express their feelings rather than sit back and submit themselves. Linsley (2011) is of the opinion that unfortunately healthcare services do not provide the necessary training to the healthcare workers, which leaves the patients in a very vulnerable position. Linsley (2011) believes that it is mandatory to provide these types of services so the patients can express themselves better. Significance of the Study The increase in number of complaints from patients and their families visiting healthcare services regarding sexual harassment means there is a great need for this type of training education and programme for the workers so that they could communicate with the patients more often (Linsley, 2011). Previously, studies have been made on the relevant subject but very less has been contributed to enforce this type of education and training in healthcare services. The significance of the study is that it will investigate what mental health care workers feel and have to say about the vulnerability of the patients seeking healthcare services. It will penetrate the viewpoint of the mental healthcare workers who are actively involved with the patients and know more about the needs of them than the healthcare management or any other department. Their viewpoint is significant to understand the problem related to the needs of some of the patients and how it could be resolved. It would also help to discover if education and training programmes would be of any help to patients and how eager mental health care workers would be eager to learn about it. Research Aim The aim of the research is to conduct a study and to know if mental healthcare workers possess the knowledge and skills to deliver appropriate sexual health care message to the vulnerable service users under their care. Research Objective The objective of the research is to carry a detailed study and understand some of the theories developed and elucidated by authors in the past. These theories, ideas and opinions would be related to how mental health care workers try or do not try to communicate with patients or users under their care. Once the theories from authors in the past are analysed, then the objective of the research is to know the view of the mental health care workers. The objective of the research is to know whether or not the mental healthcare workers receive training or some encouragement to communicate with the patients under their supervision. If they do not then how important do they feel such type of education and training is and whether it should be provided by the healthcare departments. Once the viewpoint from the mental health care workers is attained, then the objective of the research is to compare the results with some of the theories presented by authors in the past. Adopted Research Methodology A research can be qualitative, quantitative and a mix of both qualitative and quantitative. A qualitative research is a descriptive type of research that allows a researcher to better understand the respondents. A qualitative research allows a researcher to discuss issues and problems through interviews or questionnaires in a more detailed form rather than just accept yes or no for an answer. The respondents are allowed to communicate their emotions in detail. A quantitative research is much more controlled and does not permit a respondent to express his response in detail (Panneerselvam, 2004). The answers from respondents are recorded in a simple yes or no or on a scale like Likert scale. The data obtained through the research is more quantifiable and is obtained through computer software. Quantitative research is helpful when there is a large sample size and the interviewee needs a quick opinion from that large sample size (Balnaves & Caputi, 2011). A mixed research is both qualitative and quantitative. A mixed research is conducted when a researcher has time and resources to conduct and analyse the response from a large sample size, including interviews, questionnaires etcetera (Mahoney, 2012). Research Strategy The research will follow a qualitative research method in which the researcher will try to conduct interviews and then analyse the result using thematic analysis. Thematic analysis is a technique to identify themes from what the authors in the past said and then compares those themes with the findings of the interview. Thematic analysis helps to keep the research more focused and in a particular direction (Guest, 2013). When themes are identified, then the researcher looks to focus the study based on those themes. Thematic analysis helps the researcher to prove how the previous studies matched with the view of the interviews conducted in the present study. It helps the researcher to conclude if the recent findings agree or go against the theories, ideas and opinions of authors in the past (Boyatzis, 1999). Sample Size The research will interview ten respondents from a healthcare service provider. The ten respondents will be selected without any discrimination based on their gender. Altogether, five male and five female mental healthcare workers will be selected from different departments within healthcare service provider. Choosing healthcare workers from different departments will help the interviewee know more about different patients and their need to communicate with the healthcare workers. For example, a worker monitoring a schizophrenic patient will elucidate different sets of issues with the patient and a very different way to communicate with them in order to deliver appropriate sexual healthcare messages. A mental health care worker monitoring an adult with amnesia or partial memory loss would express a very different ordeal of delivering appropriate sexual messages to them. The research will conduct a semi-structured interview that would help the interviewee divert from the questions in order to give their opinion and insight about the subject matter. Semi-structured interview is going to be very conducive to the research as it would allow the interviewee share their opinion whether they want to be trained in order to communicate with the patients or not. They would also help the researcher know how such type of training can be achieved and how the healthcare service providers can change their priorities. The researcher would only educate himself by allowing the interviewees to share their insight on the issue. Sampling Strategy The research will only consider participants that have proved to be honest in the past and those who have a good record within the healthcare service provider. Honest participants are those that have wisely used the resources of the healthcare service provider have shown eagerness to communicate with the patients. No participants with negative feedback will be considered for the interview. Only participants that have managed to earn the respect of the patients and attained positive feedbacks from them will be considered for the interview. Entry to the Healthcare Centre and Recruitment of the Participants The researcher will make sure to get permission from the management of the healthcare facility centre before making any attempts to enter the compound. A formal letter from the management will be obtained that will clearly mention the departments that could be explored during the research. The researcher will also seek permission to interview members of the healthcare facility. The sample size will be mentioned, and interviews will be conducted when only the permission is granted to the researcher. Once the researcher has access to the healthcare workers, he will try to select people that are most suitable to him for the research. Based on the criteria discussed before, the researcher will choose 50% male and 50% female healthcare workers. Record of the healthcare workers will be analysed to see how honest and well caring the workers have been to the healthcare institute and patients respectively. Data Collection Interviews will be conducted within the healthcare facility. The researcher will look to seek permission to obtain a room where he could individually conduct each interview for about 20 minutes. Interviews will be recorded on a tape recorder, and the interviewer will also record some keep points on to a journal with the help of a pen. The researcher will note down all the points he thinks are useful and if any time left can be discussed in detail again. Once all the interviews are conducted then the researcher will compile all the useful information that was recorded on the tape and the journal. Data Analysis Once the data is obtained, the researcher will then analyse it by comparing it to the theories from the authors in the past. The research will be conducted through a thematic analysis technique, and so it would be easy to compare the keywords from the findings of the interview and the literature review. The analysis will be made on each theme that was selected prior to conducting the interview, and the aim of the research is to see if all of those themes match up and stand against the literature review. Ethical Consideration The research will be conducted in the most ethical manner as possible from the start to the end of the research. Only the participants who are worthy to share their opinion will be considered for the interview. The researcher will not include participants that have not received positive feedbacks or are inexperienced to share their opinion. No discrimination will be made in selecting male or female participants. The research will select half of male and half of females for the research. More important, the research will look to obey all the rules and guidelines laid down by the healthcare facility. No attempt will be made to compromise or break those guidelines. The interviews will only be conducted in the areas permitted by the management, and the interviews will only be conducted with people the management gives permission to. The interviewer will make sure that he does not enter any area and record without the consent of the management. Also, the interviewer will make sure that he does not go about interviewing random people. All these actions are against the rules and regulations of the hospital, and the interviewer will make sure, not to make these kinds of mistakes. For this reason, the interviewer will keep the tape recorder in a bag and will only take it out in the room granted to him for conducting interviews. The interviewer will not ask any questions regarding the operations of the healthcare facility for the interviewees. The aim of the interview is not to discuss how good or bad the policies of the hospital are but to see if appropriate sexual healthcare messages are delivered to the patients or not. The interviewer will not put any pressure on the interviewees to extract information about the training programmes of the healthcare facility. The interviewer will not use any information against the interest of the healthcare facility as the purpose of the research is not to blame the hospital but only to see how well the staff members are interacting with the patients. The interviewer will not persuade any employee to leave their duty in order to conduct the interview. The interviewer will wait for the employees to finish their work and will only approach them during their spare time. List of References Acton, Q.A., 2013. HIV/AIDS and Syphilis: New Insights for the Healthcare Professional. 3rd ed. Atlanta: Scholarly Editions. Balnaves, M. & Caputi, P., 2011. Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods: An Investigative Approach. 4th ed. New York: SAGE Publications. Boyatzis, R.E., 1999. Transforming qualitative information: thematic analysis and code development. 5th ed. New York: SAGE Publications. Coll, X., 2012. Communication Skills in Mental Health Care: An Introduction. 4th ed. London: Radcliffe Publishers. Guest, G., 2013. Applied Thematic Analysis. 3rd ed. New York: SAGE Publication. Kaye, W., 2012. Sexual Health: A Public Health Perspective: A Public Health Perspective. 2nd ed. Berkshire : McGraw-Hill Education. Linsley, P., 2011. Nursing for Public Health: Promotion, Principles and Practice. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press. Mahoney, J., 2012. A Tale of Two Cultures: Qualitative and Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences. 3rd ed. Woodstock: Princeton University Press. Panneerselvam, R., 2004. Research Methodology. 2nd ed. New Delhi: PHI Learning. Pattman, R., 2010. Oxford Handbook of Genitourinary Medicine, HIV, and Sexual Health. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More