Many research institutions and funders have recently stated their commitment to actively support and promote 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) in various aspects of health research including Patient and Public Involvement (PPI). However, translating this commitment into specific research projects presents significant challenges that…

Simulated standardized patients (SPs) are trained individuals who pose incognito as people seeking treatment in a health care setting. With the method's increasing use and popularity, we propose some standards to adapt the method to contextual considerations of feasibility, and we discuss current issues with the SP method and the experience of…

The Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG) is a specialised body that advises the Health Research Authority (HRA) and the Secretary of State for Health on requests for access to confidential information, in the absence of informed consent from its owners. Its primary role is to oversee the safe use of such information and to counsel the governing…

Indirect comparisons are used to obtain estimates of relative effectiveness between two treatments that have not been compared in the same randomized controlled trial, but have instead been compared against a common comparator in separate trials. Standard indirect comparisons use only aggregate data, under the assumption that there are no…

Meta-analyses of clinical trials typically focus on one outcome at a time. However, treatment decision-making depends on an overall assessment of outcomes balancing benefit in various domains and potential risks. This calls for meta-analysis methods for combined outcomes that encompass information from different domains. When individual patient…

Biomedical research policy in many countries has adopted the principle of active involvement in research. However, how different approaches to involvement such as patient and public involvement/engagement (PPIE), qualitative research, participatory research, co-design and co-production sit alongside each other, is contentious and unclear. There…

Background: Stratified medicine seeks to identify patients most likely to respond to treatment. Individual participant data (IPD) network meta-analysis (NMA) models have greater power than individual trials to identify treatment-covariate interactions (TCIs). Treatment-covariate interactions contain "within" and "across" trial…

Is medical education unique among all other educational disciplines? Why does it not seem to conform to the rules laid down by universities for every other faculty? We explore the ways in which particular elements pertaining to medical education have been perceived historically and consider the ways in which medical educators and students have…

Assessment procedures to evaluate inpatient treatment effectiveness can provide information to inform clinical practice. The Computerized Assessment System for Psychotherapy Evaluation and Research (CASPER) represents a standardized approach to assess patients' target problems that combines elements of individualized and nomothetic approaches.…

Some problems in the changing pattern of relationships between bedside teaching, clinical research, and provision of medical services in academic hospitals are examined, including patient types, sophistication of medical intervention, and specialization. Four elements of government policy that might favor desirable development in these areas are…

In this chapter, the authors share their examination of the medical and public health literature regarding links between health and literacy and identify trends in research and practice. They note the connection between educational attainment and health, as education may influence lifestyle behaviors, problem-solving abilities and values. In…