Using qualitative methods to explore key questions in palliative care.

摘要

When reading the latest research findings published in the palliative care literature or medicine's core clinical journals, one encounters a frequent refrain, "More research is needed to understand why providers. . . ."or "More research is needed to understand how patients..." Every investigator has the experience of completing the clinical trial or observational study that yielded statistically significant results yet contains major gaps in understanding why the intervention was or was not successful, what mechanisms influenced positive uptake, or why unexplained variation persists. Qualitative methods provide the tools for answering these questions.