The study, an ethnography of six GP practices in England, was part of a larger project led by Professor Sarah Purdy and funded by the National institute for Health Research School for Primary Care Research ('Primary care factors associated with utilisation of unscheduled secondary care'). The research shows how contacts in primary health care influence patients' decisions to seek help at A&E. The research is important given that A&E use has risen to record levels and pressure grows on primary health care to help relieve demand.
Novel modes of dissemination such as animation provide exciting opportunities to extend the reach of our research, however they need a very distinct approach to traditional academic outputs such such as journal articles. We worked with research stakeholders to identify key findings and translate them into useful messages for primary health care. We then developed a script from a composite of our data and this was animated by a professional animator. The winning poster showed a sequence of still pictures representing the final animation. Posters were judged on clarity and presentation of data, scientific content, and interest.
The research team will be disseminating the animation to GP practices nationally in the autumn.