Bio: Vikki Entwistle, a 2003-04 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy, is reader and programme director for delivery of care research at the Health Services Research Unit (HSRU), University of Aberdeen. Her research and policy interests relate broadly to patients' perspectives on and contributions to the quality of health care. Recent projects have examined the provision of information to patients, patients' experiences of treatment decision-making, methods for assessing patients' roles in treatment decision-making, public perceptions of different methods of feeding back their views to health services and research funding organizations' efforts to secure consumer involvement in health services research. Entwistle has served on a number of NHS advisory committees and is deputy editor for Health Expectations: An International Journal of Participation in Health Care.
Placement: Harvard University
Mentors: Michelle Mello, J.D., Ph.D., M.Phil.; Troyen Brennan, M.D., J.D., M.P.H.
Project: Patients' Roles in Patient Safety Initiatives: An Analysis of Current Practice
Description: The objectives of Entwistle's project were to identify and critically analyze the range of ways in which patients, their families, patient organizations, and the public are encouraged to contribute to efforts to improve patient safety. In particular, she identified ways in which patients are enabled to contribute to the safety of their own care, and safety in health care more generally. She conducted a literature review and key informant interviews with staff at federal agencies, quality improvement organizations, innovative providers, and consumer advocates.