Snakes and Ladders: conducting action research in contemporary healthcare practice

A Participatory Action Research (PAR) PhD study is currently being conducted to critically explore the issues surrounding children visiting adult patients in a large UK hospital. The primary objectives are to increased understanding of how staff could be better prepared to support children and their families when visiting relatives at the hospital and to explore the feasibility for staff to change current practice to improve these experiences. The UK's modern NHS is facing many challenges due to sustained increases in demand for some services, austerity causing a strain on public sector finances and the restructuring of some hospital services. A Participatory Action Research (PAR) PhD study is currently being conducted to critically explore the issues surrounding children visiting adult patients in a large UK hospital. The primary objectives are to increase understanding of how staff could be better prepared to support children and their families when visiting relatives at the hospital and to explore the feasibility for staff to change current practice to improve these experiences. Those involved in the research include nursing staff and young people from a local college. Healthcare in the UK is currently facing many challenges due to sustained increases in demand for some services, austerity causing a strain on public sector finances and the restructuring of some hospital services. Conducting a PAR study in an acute NHS hospital undergoing major restructure has proved extremely challenging for the PhD student researcher and participants. This paper will explore the main challenges and successes which have been experienced