Applied Health Services Research as a Framework for Patient-Oriented Research: A Suggested Framework for Health Care Researchers

Abstract

Engaging the general population in the research process provides new visions that may lead to innovations and research that are relevant to patients. Many developed countries like Canada are working toward engaging the population in healthcare research to achieve outcomes pertaining to enhanced accountability, transparency, and population empowerment in research. For example, Canada created Canada's Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) (Canadian Institute of Health Research [CIHR], 2011) to empower the patient's role in health research and the healthcare system.  However, there appears to be a gap in the literature because few studies or reports could be found on how applied health services research might be used as a framework for patient-oriented research. The aims of these authors in this paper are to (1) discuss how the applied health services research (AHSR) can be used as a framework for patient-oriented research (POR); and (2) describe salient challenges and potential outcomes that may result from implementing applied health research as a framework for patient-oriented research. This is a multidimensional framework for patient engagement using AHSR as a framework for POR as they have shared crossover research aspects between them. Conducting POR at different levels of AHSR reduces the gap between health research and practice, and empower patients to be responsible for their own health and health services (Gooberman-Hill et al., 2013). The multidisciplinary nature of AHSR and POR may face challenges related to research interests, patients, patient involvement, environmental/ organizational regulations and policies, and research culture.