Led by Fiona Cowdell
Project aims
To find effective ways in which to get eczema knowledge to research teams to patients, parents of children with the condition, and clinicians (nurses, GPs, pharmacists and health visitors) in primary care to improve care and health outcomes.
Eczema is a common skin condition affecting around 1 in 5 children and 1 in 12 adults. It can cause significant physical and psychological suffering. People often see their nurse or GP with eczema but the responsibility for day-to-day care rests with the patient, and this can be hard to manage. Research shows that healthcare practitioner decisions are often based on their individual mindlines.
Mindlines are ways of thinking that are formed by a mixture of personal experience, the knowledge and opinions of colleagues and experts and, to a lesser degree, research evidence. Lay people also have mindlines. To have high quality, useful consultations and clear agreed achievable self-management plans, we need to find ways of ensuring that patients and clinicians are provided with shared information to guide the development of accurate and up-to-date mindlines. Ethnographic research methods and co-creation were used to understand and then plan and implement knowledge mobilisation strategies to amend and enhance shared eczema mindlines with positive impact. Funders: National Institute for Health Research, Knowledge Mobilisation Research Fellowship.
Cowdell F. Knowledge mobilisation: an ethnographic study of the influence of lay mindlines on eczema self-management in primary care in the UK. BMJ Open. 2018 Aug 1;8(8):e021498.
Cowdell F. Knowledge mobilisation: an ethnographic study of the influence of practitioner mindlines on atopic eczema self-management in primary care in the UK. BMJ Open. 2019 Jul 1;9(7):e025220.
Cowdell F. Knowledge mobilisation: an exploratory qualitative interview study to confirm and envision modification of lay and practitioner eczema mindlines to improve consultation experiences and self-management in primary care in the UK. BMJ Open. 2019 Jun 1;9(6):e028225.
Cowdell F, Ahmed T, Layfield C. Knowledge mobilisation: a UK co-creation study to devise strategies to amend lay and practitioner atopic eczema mindlines to improve consultation experiences and self-management practices in primary care. BMJ Open. 2020 Sep 1;10(9):e036520.
Cowdell F, Lax S, Van Onselen J, Pendleton R. Can co-created knowledge mobilisation interventions alter and enhance mindlines to improve childhood eczema care? A UK-based Social Impact Framework evaluation. BMJ Open. 2023 Apr 1;13(4):e065557.
Cowdell F. Using co-creation to modify mindlines and improve childhood eczema care. Knowledge Transformation in Health and Social Care: Putting Mindlines to Work. 2022 Dec 30.
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