1st Edition

Complexity in Primary Care Understanding its Value

By Keiran Sweeney Copyright 2006

    The daily work of General Practitioners can seem at once simple and immensely complicated. The routine nature of the consultation appears on the surface to be straightforward, but carries within it myriad layers of meaning. The options for diagnosis and treatment within a single consultation, or when combined in the overall pattern of the day, can seem huge. A basic understanding of complexity theory can provide GPs with a way to face the more bewildering aspects of their job. This book provides a concise and clear introduction to complexity, tailored specifically for the primary care environment. GPs and their colleagues throughout primary care will find this book assists them in working more efficiently, more effectively and more enjoyably.

    Why bother: the need to understand explanatory models. The biomedical tradition: why doctors think like doctors. Evidence-based medicine: the contemporary manifestation of the explanatory model in medicine. The naturalistic tradition: historical overview of the intellectual origins of qualitative research. The non-linear tradition: historical development of complexity. Developing an understanding of chaos and complexity: implications and examples. Using complexity principles in healthcare research: data analysis using complexity principles. Complexity and medical practice: prospects for the future.

    Biography

    Keiran Sweeney