Interactive Workshop

Focus 2: Interactive Workshop

1.) Take a look at the following focused question from a previous semester of GR 798:

In postpartum mothers who are breastfeeding (P), can a score of more than 12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (I) identify a risk of postpartum depression symptoms and, ultimately, a candidate for breastfeeding cessation (O) as opposed to postpartum mothers who score less than 12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (C)?

The Patient/Problem is postpartum mothers currently breastfeeding.
The Intervention is a score of more than 12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.
The Comparison intervention is a score of less than 12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.
The Outcomes work to determine if the score on the depression scale can help identify at-risk postpartum breastfeeding mothers, who then would be candidates for cessation of breastfeeding.

This focused question is specific and narrow enough to be researched, analyzed, and discussed within 5-7 pages.

2.) Now try to find the PICO in the following focused question:

In end-stage cancer patients with less than six-month life expectancy, would adding pet therapy and music therapy, when compared to end-stage cancer patients with family support and no complementary alternative medicine (CAM) therapy, lead to a greater life expectancy and quality of life as measured through qualitative survey responses?

Before moving forward, take a minute and fill out a delineated PICO for the above focused question.

The Patient/Problem is end-stage cancer patients with less than six-month life expectency.
The Intervention is pet therapy and music therapy.
The Comparison intervention is no CAM therapy.
The Outcomes seek to determine if CAM therapy improves life expectancy and quality of life using qualitative surveys.

This focused question is too broad to discuss in 5-7 pages. How might it be narrowed? One possibility is to be more specific about family support. Consider making it an integral focus of the discussion. Another possibility is to remove the “life expectancy” from the focused question — narrowing down the outcomes. Are there other possibilities for narrowing the focus?

Check out the following website for a helpful table on formulating focused questions: Asking Focus Questions (Links to an external site.)

Let’s find a properly sized topic for your focused question:

What healthcare topic interests you?

What about that healthcare topic interests you?

Is there a question that has been asked recently where you work for which no one seems to have a definitive answer?

How might you make the topic more focused?

Is this a topic with a standard treatment or therapy?

Is this a topic with several standard treatments/therapies?

Would you like to research a new trend of the topic?

Would you like to analyze a past trend of the topic?

Is this topic too general for a small 5-7 page essay?

Can you make the topic more specific?

Can you narrow the body of research associated with this topic?

What patient/problem seems integral to the topic?

How can you make the patient/problem more specific?

What intervention seems integral to the topic?

How can you make the intervention more specific,by specifying the dosage, the scale, or the elapsed time?

Is there a standard intervention?

Is this a new intervention? Is it comparable to the standard intervention?

Are there a few interventions that need to be analyzed in relation to the same patient/problem?

What do you hope to achieve with this topic?

What will be the focus of your outcomes?

What is the significance of the topic? Why is it worth study?