Phase 2: Schwartz Rounds evaluation - Survey & Ethnographic fieldwork
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Organisational Case Studies: Phase 2 of a Longitudinal National Evaluation of Schwartz Center Rounds: an intervention to enhance compassion in the relationships between staff and patients though providing support for staff and promoting their wellbeing.
IRAS ID
165687
Contact name
Jill Maben
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Kings College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 10 months, 30 days
Research summary
Schwartz Center Rounds ('Rounds') are facilitated meetings where healthcare staff can explore the emotional and social challenges of providing compassionate patient care in a safe non-challenging environment. Rounds were developed in the US by the Schwartz Center for compassionate healthcare in Boston, Massachusetts, but are spreading in the UK (having been introduced by the Point of Care Foundation, which is associated with the King’s Fund). Rounds may benefit staff by providing support and reducing stress relating to the emotional aspects of providing patient care, which in turn may help them to deliver high quality compassionate patient care. Such benefits have been reported in small scale evaluations but have yet to be determined in robust studies. This research will build on existing evidence about influences on quality of patient care and staff experiences of work by providing a robust evaluation of the impact of Rounds on staff support and well-being, and will examine whether and how Rounds may support staff to deliver compassionate care. This ethics application is for Phase 2 of the study where we will visit 10 case study sites, spending up to twelve months in each (approximately six months of qualitative data collection), and use ethnographic observation of Rounds, their preparation, and the impact on presenting teams, as well as in-depth interviews, shadowing presenters in clinical practice and a staff survey to examine more closely the processes that may be taking place during Rounds. The survey will be undertaken at two time points: baseline and eight months later. We will evaluate Schwartz Rounds using Realist Evaluation methodology (Pawson and Tilley 1997) which asks ‘What works, for whom in what circumstances?’, thereby attempting to examine the complexities of Rounds rather than just asking ‘Do Rounds work?’
REC name
London - South East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/0053
Date of REC Opinion
28 Jan 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion