RESEARCH CRITIQUE   NAME:   INSTITUTION: Statement of the research problem In your view, do the authors provide a good/reasonable justification for the study? Yes the author had a good

RESEARCH CRITIQUE

NAME:

INSTITUTION:

Statement of the research problem

In your view, do the authors provide a good/reasonable justification for the study? 

Yes the author had a good reason this is because they are researching about the elderly people whose number is growing day by day but despite of this, there are no experts who are getting trained to handle them. We finding out in the research that the old people are using a high proportion of the medical care’s when compared to the other ages. Despite of there being geriatric education, the number of people being trained to handle the sick is not enough when compared to the proportion of those who are seeking medical attention. There is lack of effective curricula which directs the medical students how to handle these people. There are medical doctors who are specialized in catering for the other ages of people the children and the youth but there are no experts who are trained to focus on the old people. It is important to note that the older people get, the more they are likely to get sick fast.

Literature review

Is the literature that was reviewed relevant to the topic/research question?

Yes the literature review was relevant. The authors begins by explaining how things were in the years of 1986, when looking at the fields of nursing, pharmacy and health in general. He also explains how geriatric training has evolved. They use the support of several writers in the literature review. The authors use surveys that have been provided in the literature review and these surveys are about focusing on the old people. They also focus on the importance of caring for the old in the literature review and they end up supporting it with evidences from different writers and authors. 

Were the sources of literature too old or more recent?

The sources were mixed up between the old sources and new sources which I can say is good. The oldest source was that of Aronson, & Seiffer of 1979 then Wesolowski of 1979 among others which are also old. We also find new researches of recent years 2011. So the authors have done a good thing by researching from different sources and finding the best and mixing years appropriately.

Methodological Plan

How participants for the study sampled were (selected)?

First the data interview methods were used Participants held different roles relevant to curriculum development and implementation, including Course Director, Director of Graduate Studies, Academic/Education Dean, Curriculum Committee Member, and Chair/Program Director

How many participants were involved in the study?

There were 21 participants were 9 were male participants and 12 were female participants in the interview. 

Was demographic information available on these participants?

The authors of the article say that those who participated had to be 29 years of age for the professionals and they had to have at least 10 to 41 years of experience in geriatric. For the students they had to have about 25 years of age and an experience of 8 to 36 years.  

Is the following information available?

How was the data collected? 

There was an interview script and guide which was issued to the participants. This interview script had open and closed questions. The data was collected by interviewers.

How was the data analyzed? Is the specific method/approach stated and explained?

The authors of the article used a table to summarize the questions. Each question was handled differently from the other question and they sampled the views of the participants for each question in the essay.

Trustworthiness/Authenticity

Do the authors address the issue of trustworthiness/authenticity?

Yes they address the issue by:

The authors decided to focus on the education institutions, the dean for different programs were first asked to identify three people who were influential when it comes to the development of curriculums. If any of these people were not willing to participate the deans were asked to choose others. The participants were engaged in questions that were semi structured and all this was approved by the University of Kentucky.

Findings

Were the findings adequately supported with quotes from the participants?

Yes they were well quoted. Authors begin by who said what words. E.g. the dentistry participant said… one PT participant said that… this is what is found in the findings. In the questions where many participants gave similar answers we find out that the authors also note this issue.

Statement of Limitations

Do the authors discuss the limitations of the study? Briefly, what do they say? (Approximately 150 words)

Yes the author’s talks about ethical consideration. They say that their research is one and it was just carried out in a single city and only one medical center was covered. Geriatric education is at most time considered not valuable and for long time has been very resilient. This research cannot be generalized and in order to have consistency there should be many researches done in other centers. The authors did also not focus on in curriculum outcomes of the education. There is also the limitation of Participants in our study stressed the importance of an interdisciplinary approach but indicated limited emphasis on interdisciplinary education in their programs. Program directors should consider efforts to enhance interdisciplinary opportunities and build on faculty collaborations so that different health disciplines can share knowledge and resources in providing an integrated array of geriatric educational and training options. In general there were different limitations which were observed in the essay and there is need for future researches which explains further about this research which is very important.