Critical Appraisal of Paper

Running head: CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF PAPER
Critical Appraisal
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF PAPER
Question 1:
Yes.
The researchers intended to analyze and gain a greater understanding of the UK’s
physiotherapist’s and occupational therapists’ perceptions of risk with older adults in acute care
settings through a semi-structured interview.
The rationale behind the study is that hospital discharge to home for older adults is a
challenging procedure which depending on the multidisciplinary team. The main process of the
discharge is the management of risk involving the occupational therapist along with the
physiotherapist. However, researcher highlighted that perception of risk of older adults in the
acute setting influence the process of discharge in the United States. The therapist usually feels
anxious about discharge and use negative terminology for the patients and family members of the
patient who are intended to take the risk. Therefore, the perception of the multidisciplinary team,
especially occupational therapist and physiotherapist specified for the older adults highly
influence the decision making of discharge process where therapists usually consider the mental
capacity, normal functioning as well as the safety to making the decision. Therefore, researchers
intended to explore the perception of the therapist regarding the risk related to the discharge of
older adults.
Question 2:
Yes.
The qualitative methodology was undertaken for this study is appropriate where
researchers conducted a focus group interview. The semi-structured interview was conducted
considering the participation of the seven occupational therapists and five physiotherapists in the

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CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF PAPER
United Kingdom (UK) where interviewer designed 12 semi-structured open-ended questions on
the focus group. As discussed by Merriam and Grenier (2019), interview by open-ended
questions is the most abundant method of data collection in qualitative research. As highlighted
by Silverman (2016), semi-structured interview also considered as in-depth interviews where
participants were asked to answer open-ended questions to provide a concise idea of their
thinking. Hence, the semi-structured interview is the most suitable method of data collection in
qualitative research in the domain of clinical research . Apart from the semi-structured interview,
selection of the focus group is highlighted as one the crucial factor in qualitative research since it
assists the researcher to generate accurate information in the particular domain of the clinical
research by a focus group who is best aware of the particular clinical issue. Moreover, interview
not only helped to obtain the factual data but also emotional data as observed in this case that the
perceptions of the therapists of risk reflect the decision making of the discharge. Hence, it is the
best suitable method of research.
Question 3:
Yes.
In this research, Atwal, Wiggett, and McIntyre (2011), have clearly justified the research
design in the methodology section with a proper description of the process that was undertaken
to recruit focus group for the interview. In the research, Atwal, Wiggett, and McIntyre (2011),
conducted the first-person face to face interview to obtain first-person data. As discussed by
LoBiondo-Wood and Haber (2017), to conduct the qualitative research obtaining first-person
data is crucial which mostly directed towards the analysis of the thinking of the human race over
considering the certain clinical problem. The study conducted by Atwal, Wiggett, and
McIntyre (2011), is mainly based the perception of the occupational therapist as well as

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CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF PAPER
physiotherapist on the risk associated with the older adults in the acute clinical setting which
further facilitate the decision making of the discharge process. Thus, conducting face to face
interview with the help of the researcher helped to identify the stress experienced by the
responders during the decision making.
Question 4:
Yes.
Here, Atwal, Wiggett, and McIntyre (2011), has recruited focus group for the semi-
structured interview. The focus group for the conducting face to face first-person interview of
similar experience is crucial for maintaining homogeneity and reducing biases of the result. The
focus group, in this case, comprises seven occupational therapists and five physiotherapists of
the United Kingdom in the acute care setting who provide care to the older adults. Researches
stated that Fifty-eight therapists could have participated in the study but only eight participants
were consented to participate in the study. Individual reminder was sent to every 50 participants
where only eight responded and four therapists were further recruited for the study. Thus it was
clearly observed that researchers have properly explained the process of how participants were
chosen. Moreover, according to the proper definition of the attributes of the focus group is
crucial for qualitative research since it helps to reduce the biases and obtain accurate
information. Therefore, the research conducted by Atwal, Wiggett, and McIntyre (2011)
provides a clear description of the focus group making the data clear and succinate.
Question 5:
Yes.