Description

Theories and practices of person-centred care emphasize the importance of research on equity and individual differences as foundational to understanding mechanisms and person-centred outcomes in diverse populations. The goal of this workshop is to provide practical guidance on approaches to equitable, people-centred measuring and analysing health and quality of life. This guidance will draw on key theoretical perspectives underlying idiographic versus nomothetic measurement, person-centred versus variable-centred analysis, intersectionality research, and realist methodologies for theory building. The workshop will include practical examples of approaches to unbiased measurements and analyses in diverse populations, including the use of:

1. Psychometric methods (e.g., item response theory and latent variable mixture models) to reduce biases in measurements of patient-reported outcome and experiences,
2. Statistical models (e.g. multi-level and latent class models, dynamic structural equation models) to reveal individual differences in health and quality of life trajectories,
3. Qualitative approaches including the development of personas to understand individual differences of diverse people, and
4. Realist designs to build theories about programs explaining what works, for whom, in what circumstances, and why to promote person-centred health care.

The workshop will be delivered at an introductory level, covering key theoretical perspectives and methodologies relevant to person-centred research. This will include interactive learning through demonstrations and small group discussions. Participants will have the opportunity to consider how these theories and methodologies can be applied to their current or proposed research projects. Each group will report back on shared learnings and outstanding questions for full group discussion. Resources will be provided for further self-directed in-depth learning.