HMPYC80 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

HMPYC80 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY I declare that I am not receiving help form anybody, nor am I assisting anybody else in completing this examination. I understand that my submitted responses may be subjected to integrity testing and that my paper may be nullified should any irregularities be found. 1. True 2. False NOTE: If your paper does not contain a “True” response to this question, your examination will be nullified. The research consultation company … You own a consultation company specialising in psychological research. The company is called PsyConsult. You employ a number of social scientists and professional psychologists, but there are also students (psychological interns) who do their practical at the company. Meeting the client … Mbali Lukele contacted you to ask whether your company would be prepared to assist them with a new project. Mbali heads Wellbeing Services for Descar Health, an organisation that manages several hospitals throughout South Africa. In the first meeting Mbali explains that due to the high cost of health services medical funds and medical insurance companies are beginning to cap payments made to hospitals. Therefore patients have to be discharged earlier. The problem is that early discharge often lead to re-hospitalisation because patients fail to cope after being discharged early. Descar Health realised that getting patients to change their life styles may be good idea because several studies indicated that patients whose life styles included healthy habits required less days in hospital following major illness or surgery. Older patients are a particular concern because they are less likely than younger patients to cope well after early discharge from hospital. This is not simply a matter of physical ability, but also of mental capacity. People with good cognitive skills tend to cope better after early discharge regardless of age and the seriousness of illness or surgery, and are therefore less likely to be readmitted to hospital. The health care professionals working in the Wellbeing Services sections of Descar Health hospitals researched the matter and agreed to implement a programme that in North America seemed to have been very successful in changing life styles. The programme, called Programme for Improved Cognition (PIC) was trialed the previous year in Descar hospitals. The programme had to be adjusted to fit the South African context and circumstances. The adjusted programme is called the SA-PIC. It seems to be working, but the directors of Descar Health needs scientific proof to make sure the programme is worth the money spent on it. Mbali wants PsyConsult to design and conduct research to determine whether or not the programme works. Mbali provides you with the relevant course material as well research articles concerning the programme and the theory it is based on. At the research consultation company … At PsyConsult each day begins with a morning meeting to discuss the business of the day. The meeting is attended by the social scientists and psychologists working for the