Translating 'practice-into-evidence': Why multimorbidity research needs ethnography.

Ethnography is small scale observational research conducted in naturalistic ‘everyday’ settings which seeks to describe, illuminate and interpret everyday phenomena. With its disciplinary roots in anthropology, ethnography remains underexploited in healthcare research but is particularly valuable as a way of exploring complex issues and offering insights that can inform efforts to improve the quality and safety of care.

In her talk, Deborah Swinglehurst began by introducing ethnography as an orientation to research, explaining what it was, why it was valuable, and what kinds of methods might be employed in an ethnographic enquiry.

Drawing on examples of recently completed and ongoing research projects conducted within her team, she highlighted the potential of ethnography to support new ways of thinking about the nature of some of our most complex contemporary healthcare challenges, such as multimorbidity and polypharmacy.