Pragmatic Healthcare Ethnography

Alison B. Hamilton is a VA Research Career Scientist and Implementation Research Director with the Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation, and Policy at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, a Professor-in-Residence in the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science, David Geffen School of Medicine, and an Honorary Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her research interests include gender and health, mental health, implementation science, and research methods. Gemmae M. Fix is an Associate Professor at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and a Research Health Scientist with the Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research co-located at the VA Bedford/VA Boston Healthcare Systems. As an applied medical anthropologist, she has almost two decades of experience conducting federally funded ethnographic research in healthcare settings. Her research focuses on the delivery of patient-centered care, particularly for people living with HIV. She is a fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology. Erin P. Finley is a Professor with the Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Long School of Medicine, University of Texas (UT) Health San Antonio, and Core Investigator and Qualitative Methods Core Lead with the Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation, and Policy at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Her research interests include veterans’ health, mental health, and diverse methods in implementation planning and evaluation.

1. Introduction: Pragmatic Healthcare Ethnography 2. What is Ethnography and Why Use It to Understand Healthcare? 3. Designing Ethnography for Healthcare Research 4. Conducting Ethnography in Healthcare Research 5. Ethnography for Understanding: Analytic Approaches 6. Sharing Ethnographic Findings 7. Crafting a New Ethnography