Page 180 - Demo

Chapter 7178Methodological considerationsThis thesis aimed to fill a knowledge gap regarding (primary) MH care for patients with MID. Therefore, the strength of this thesis is that, using evidence-based methodological methods throughout all the studies, we provide insight into quantitative and qualitative characteristics of this care and patient group. The studies in this thesis have various additional strengths. Firstly, by using and linking large datasets, we were able to identify and include people with MID in our quantitative studies (Chapters 3 and 4) who were not recorded as such in their medical file and would otherwise have been overlooked. Secondly, the perspectives of both patients with MID and practitioners have been thoroughly incorporated throughout the entire thesis in three ways. A) An advisory board, consisting of two people with MID, two practitioners, and seven professionals from related fields, was involved in all studies. This board provided feedback on the research design, reflected on the research results, and gave advice on the dissemination of the results. B) A co-researcher with MID was involved in creating the interview guide for the study in Chapter 5. The questions were simplified and adjusted to people with MID to optimize the quality of data collection. C) In total, 11 patients and 28 practitioners participated in the qualitative studies in Chapters 5 and 6 to gain insights into the perspectives of patients receiving care and the practitioners providing the care. Thirdly, although the supervisory team had broad expertise in the field of primary care, ID care, and (qualitative) research, additional expertise was incorporated into the team as deemed necessary: an epidemiologist and a psychiatrist were added to the team for the study in Chapter 4 and a GP senior researcher in the studies in Chapters 5 and 6. This enhanced the quality of data collection and the interpretation of the results in the respective studies. Finally, the combination of me as an ID physician with affinity and experience with the thesis topic and with the research that I conducted, as well as the practical experience with the patients and the practitioners around whom this thesis revolved, added to the depth of all phases of the studies. The supervisory team and the advisory board Katrien Pouls sHL.indd 178 24-06-2024 16:26