An action research approach to facilitating the adoption of a foot health assessment tool in India
Abstract Background India has a diabetes population that is growing and alongside this, the incidence of limb threatening foot problems is increasing. Foot health care provision does not yet meet this demand. In one locality in India, clinicians had an unstructured approach to foot health assessment...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2015-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Foot and Ankle Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13047-015-0108-3 |
| _version_ | 1797321407749685248 |
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| author | Michael Harrison‐Blount Michelle Cullen Christopher J. Nester Anita E. Williams |
| author_facet | Michael Harrison‐Blount Michelle Cullen Christopher J. Nester Anita E. Williams |
| author_sort | Michael Harrison‐Blount |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background India has a diabetes population that is growing and alongside this, the incidence of limb threatening foot problems is increasing. Foot health care provision does not yet meet this demand. In one locality in India, clinicians had an unstructured approach to foot health assessments resulting in poor adoption of evidence based guidelines from the West and a persistence of serious foot complications. There was the perception that existing assessment tools did not take into account the local cultural, organizational and professional needs and there was a lack of ownership of any potential solution to the problem. Therefore, the aim of this work was to facilitate the ownership and development of a foot health assessment tool for use in the Indian context. In order to achieve this an action research approach was chosen. Methods Participants were facilitated through the action and implementation phases of the action research cycle by the researchers. The action phase included generating a list of potential items for inclusion in the tool from a review of the literature to provide an evidence based foundation for the foot health assessment tool. A modified Delphi method was used to further refine the contents of the tool. Members of the Delphi Panel (n = 8) were experts in their field of medicine and experts in delivering health care within services in India. Results The outcome of the study was the adoption of a locally developed foot health assessment tool (Salford Indian Foot Health Assessment Tool, SIFT). It contains thirteen sections, which reflect the risk factors identified for assessing foot health agreed by the participants to fit the Indian context. The SIFT is supported with evidence based guidelines from the West and a training program was delivered by the researchers in order to support its implementation into clinical practice. Conclusion An action research approach has facilitated the development and implementation of a locally created and owned foot health assessment tool. This in turn has resulted in the integration of evidence‐based guidelines from the West with consideration to local cultural, organizational and professional needs and ultimately the needs of their patients. Further work is underway evaluating the outcomes of the SIFT in practice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T04:58:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1f3c92befa1942b087cd9ceac5638088 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1757-1146 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T04:58:11Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Foot and Ankle Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-1f3c92befa1942b087cd9ceac56380882024-02-07T14:57:49ZengWileyJournal of Foot and Ankle Research1757-11462015-01-0181n/an/a10.1186/s13047-015-0108-3An action research approach to facilitating the adoption of a foot health assessment tool in IndiaMichael Harrison‐Blount0Michelle Cullen1Christopher J. Nester2Anita E. Williams3School of Health SciencesCollege of Health and Social CareUniversity of SalfordFrederick RoadM6 6PUSalfordUKSchool of Health SciencesCollege of Health and Social CareUniversity of SalfordFrederick RoadM6 6PUSalfordUKSchool of Health SciencesCollege of Health and Social CareUniversity of SalfordFrederick RoadM6 6PUSalfordUKSchool of Health SciencesCollege of Health and Social CareUniversity of SalfordFrederick RoadM6 6PUSalfordUKAbstract Background India has a diabetes population that is growing and alongside this, the incidence of limb threatening foot problems is increasing. Foot health care provision does not yet meet this demand. In one locality in India, clinicians had an unstructured approach to foot health assessments resulting in poor adoption of evidence based guidelines from the West and a persistence of serious foot complications. There was the perception that existing assessment tools did not take into account the local cultural, organizational and professional needs and there was a lack of ownership of any potential solution to the problem. Therefore, the aim of this work was to facilitate the ownership and development of a foot health assessment tool for use in the Indian context. In order to achieve this an action research approach was chosen. Methods Participants were facilitated through the action and implementation phases of the action research cycle by the researchers. The action phase included generating a list of potential items for inclusion in the tool from a review of the literature to provide an evidence based foundation for the foot health assessment tool. A modified Delphi method was used to further refine the contents of the tool. Members of the Delphi Panel (n = 8) were experts in their field of medicine and experts in delivering health care within services in India. Results The outcome of the study was the adoption of a locally developed foot health assessment tool (Salford Indian Foot Health Assessment Tool, SIFT). It contains thirteen sections, which reflect the risk factors identified for assessing foot health agreed by the participants to fit the Indian context. The SIFT is supported with evidence based guidelines from the West and a training program was delivered by the researchers in order to support its implementation into clinical practice. Conclusion An action research approach has facilitated the development and implementation of a locally created and owned foot health assessment tool. This in turn has resulted in the integration of evidence‐based guidelines from the West with consideration to local cultural, organizational and professional needs and ultimately the needs of their patients. Further work is underway evaluating the outcomes of the SIFT in practice.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13047-015-0108-3DiabetesAction researchFoot health assessment |
| spellingShingle | Michael Harrison‐Blount Michelle Cullen Christopher J. Nester Anita E. Williams An action research approach to facilitating the adoption of a foot health assessment tool in India Journal of Foot and Ankle Research Diabetes Action research Foot health assessment |
| title | An action research approach to facilitating the adoption of a foot health assessment tool in India |
| title_full | An action research approach to facilitating the adoption of a foot health assessment tool in India |
| title_fullStr | An action research approach to facilitating the adoption of a foot health assessment tool in India |
| title_full_unstemmed | An action research approach to facilitating the adoption of a foot health assessment tool in India |
| title_short | An action research approach to facilitating the adoption of a foot health assessment tool in India |
| title_sort | action research approach to facilitating the adoption of a foot health assessment tool in india |
| topic | Diabetes Action research Foot health assessment |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13047-015-0108-3 |
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