Improving our health by translating research evidence into local NHS practice

DISSEMINATION EVENT 28TH - 29th MARCH 2012

USING SOCIOLOGY TO HELP PREVENT CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

This dissemination is designed primarily to raise the profile of sociological research in cardiovascular disease prevention – an expanding area of clinical and public health practice, with the potential for significant health improvement and cost reduction.

It will also serve as a forum to develop further collaborative and methodologically innovative research in medical sociology and related fields of health research.

Topics to be covered include:

The roles and attitudes of general practitioners and other primary care practitioners (nurses, health care assistants, pharmacists)
Understanding different ‘lay’ responses to risk assessment; to lifestyle advice; and to prophylactic medication
Identifying interactions where prevention becomes an issue (opportunistic or systematic screening; local organisational logics)
The medium and long-term issues of preventive medicine use (responses to side effects; media stories; medicines review, long term compliance with treatment)

To reflect on the impact of sociology on preventative health services

Present sociological research papers about the acceptability and uptake of cardiovascular screening and different preventive interventions (lifestyle advice; smoking cessation; prophylactic medication) to those who are or will be responsible for commissioning in the new NHS.
Explore the impact that sociological research can have on the development of interventions for CVD prevention and the redesign of services, drawing on examples across the UK.
Share experiences of qualitative research in this area, discuss new methodological approaches
Foster new collaborations or comparative work.