Running Head: Qualitative research case study

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
CASE STUDY

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Evaluation and critique of the qualitative methods and research processes

The report is based on a qualitative case study by Matima et al. (2018). The study included

interviews with patients and health care professionals from the HIV and Community Health

Association in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. This study looked at the patient's

perspective. The current health policy in South Africa proposes the integration of primary health

services for chronic diseases to treat chronic diseases. However, there is little information on

how many patients with chronic illnesses (i.e. those with multiple chronic illnesses) benefit from

health care and what needs they have identified that can improve disease management. In this

study, he used the prevalence of HIV and type 2 diabetes (T2D) to demonstrate the complexity

that patients face in effectively controlling the disease. HIV and T2D are the two highest death

rates in the Western Cape. This study confirms the combination of phenomenology and

argumentative theory (Audley et al. 2018).

The study used a targeted sample of two suburban public clinics where blacks live in Xhosa,

mostly in informal, mostly Hayelite cities. Participants were selected using sampling methods.

The aim was to select participants from two public sector clinics (Bengtsson, 2016). Site B

Community Health Clinic provides primary health care for all other conditions, including type 2

diabetes. These clinics are located on the outskirts of Cape Town, in Western Cape, and are

predominantly Black, Xhosa, mainly Black, and Cayelitsa suburbs. Patient participation criteria

include: HIV and T2D are generally reported. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) was started and is

suffering from T2D; 35-65 years of age; able and willing to give informed consent and clear

interview in English (Connelly, 2016).

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The participation criteria of health care professionals include professionals working with chronic

adults: the desire to communicate clearly in English and the ability and willingness to give

informed consent. Ten patients (five men and five women) and six medical staff were recruited,

including two physicians, two clinical nurses (CNPs) and two AIDS consultants (Duffy et al.

2019).

With the exception of one Ubuntu Clinic CNP, all medical staff is from Club B of the Healthy

Community Site (King et al. 2018). The combination of phenomenology and theory has laid the

foundation for research. Participants participated in in-depth, partially structured, individual

interviews that summarized subjective life experiences and perspectives on managing multiple

HIV and T2D events.

All interviews were personal, conducted in a private room and recorded for about an hour.

Interpretation is provided at each patient-participant interview, and the interpreter is provided to

participants when they need to ask or answer related questions. The texts of the interviews were

taken orally and in English (Malterud et al. 2016).

The interviews resulted in two independent semi-systematic questionnaires - one for the

participating patients and one for the health care providers. The Complex Model based

questionnaire explores the concepts of patient workload and patient capacity. It asks patient-

participants what they need to do to provide health care, the challenges they face in meeting

these needs, and the factors that help them. They were questioned how healthcare providers can

provide treatment for HIV and type 2 diabetes, what the challenges of these multiple outbreaks

are, and how they can improve their functioning.

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Presentation and interpretation of the qualitative thematic analysis of the interview transcript

The interviewer asked several questions from interviewee about their issues which they face for

finding treatment for HIV and Type 2 diabetes. The first interviewee who was of 55-60 years of

age and was suffering from HIV from 0-5 years, and from Type 2 diabetes from 5-10 years

answered very clearly about the questions that were asked to him. The issue which was faced by

this patient was that he has to wait for a long time to receive his treatment for HIV and Type 2

diabetes, and sometimes he has to wait till the next day, but he defined that the issue is being

resolved, it is not ignored anyway. He defined that this issue is faced because of the limited

availability of doctors on some days, and there are very few doctors for HIV and Type 2

diabetes, so this is required to improve in the hospital for improving the treatment of patients

within the hospital.

Moreover, he defined that the process is also time taking, and there are some steps that are

required to be removed or eliminated within the hospital. The interviewee was asked what does

he has any information that he is being told by the doctors or the nurses on how he is supposed to

be managing HIV and how he is supposed to be managing diabetes?. The interviewee replied

that he gets told a lot by the nurses on diabetes. They teach him a lot. They teach him how to

exercise. They show him the ways of exercising and they tell him the different foods that he must

eat and the ones that he must not eat, that is not right for his body, like for example, the type of

meats that he eats. Red meat is extremely dangerous and pork is right, but he must just remove

the fat from the pork. So he gets taught about that. A lot of things that they teach him. So he is

satisfied with the service which is received by him.

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Moreover, the interviewee was asked that is he satisfied with the time that he is waiting and is he

also satisfied that the place is clean. Is there anything that he may think of that he would want to

see being done in a different way? The interviewee replied saying that the only complaint was on

that side. It was at the pharmacy and the problem was that there were a lot of people and he

thinks there were two doctors; and only two people working in the pharmacy to get everybody’s

treatment done, collect it and distribute it. So, that is the only complaint. From the time that he

came here to 3.30 pm and nothing has happened, so that was just not right. And another thing he

mentioned that sometimes he receives the treatment the very next day which is required to be

improved.

The second patient who was of 50-55 years of age and was suffering from HIV from 5-10 years,

and from Type 2 diabetes from 5-10 years also answered the questions very deliberately and

defined the issues which are being faced by him. He defined that he is facing several issues on

the diabetes side, while he has no issue with HIV side. This interviewee was asked about the

issues which are faced by him on both sides. So he replied saying that on the HIV side, he has

got no problems because here all they do is just check the blood and when they do not find

anything wrong with my status there. So it is the diabetes side whereby they know that there is a

certain cause that makes this rise, so what he would say is that maybe there, they could have a

way that can strengthen him in a way for problems like those that he receives now. And that

when those problems come by they do not do much because he is already fit for that. So if they

could have a way that could help him in that way.

Moreover, he was asked that is there anything that he feels that could be done differently in other

aspects. He replied suggesting that at the diabetes side that there is, okay, they have tried to meet

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him halfway by at the club. He does not really have to stand in a queue for the folders anymore.

So when he comes back from his tests and stuff, his folders are already fixed and so they try to

meet him halfway there. But he would suggest that they will make some change in the pharmacy

by making things quicker because he spends a lot of time there at the pharmacy. It is just too

much time that he spends there. So if maybe somehow they would increase staff there, or maybe

change the way that they are working now just to make things quicker for people, because he sits

there almost the half of the day he is sitting there waiting to receive medication.

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References

Audley, S., Grenier, K., Martin, J.L. and Ramos, J., 2018. Why me? An exploratory qualitative

study of drinking gamers’ reasons for selecting other players to drink. Emerging

adulthood, 6(2), pp.79-90.

Bengtsson, M., 2016. How to plan and perform a qualitative study using content analysis.

NursingPlus Open, 2, pp.8-14.

Connelly, L.M., 2016. Trustworthiness in qualitative research. Medsurg Nursing, 25(6), pp.435-

437.

Duffy, J.M.N., Thompson, T., Hinton, L., Salinas, M., McManus, R.J., Ziebland, S.,

International Collaboration to Harmonise Outcomes in Pre‐eclampsia (iHOPE)

Qualitative Research Group, Barnard, A.M., Crawford, C., Dennis, T. and Johnson, M.,

2019. What outcomes should researchers select, collect and report in pre‐eclampsia

research? A qualitative study exploring the views of women with lived experience of pre‐

eclampsia. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 126(5),

pp.637-646.

King, C., Smith, M., Currie, K., Dickson, A., Smith, F., Davis, M. and Flowers, P., 2018.

Exploring the behavioural drivers of veterinary surgeon antibiotic prescribing: a

qualitative study of companion animal veterinary surgeons in the UK. BMC veterinary

research, 14(1), pp.1-9.

Malterud, K., Siersma, V.D. and Guassora, A.D., 2016. Sample size in qualitative interview

studies: guided by information power. Qualitative health research, 26(13), pp.1753-1760.

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