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Table 2 Characteristics of included studies

From: Exploring the intersection of hermeneutics and implementation: a scoping review

Author, year, country

Aim

Setting

Research design/methods

Participants

Hermeneutic approach

Hermeneutics in the study

Focus of implementation

Darbyshire 1994 [44]

Scotland

To describe the creation and first year implementation of a nursing course, and hermeneutic evaluation of students’ experiences and learning

BA (Honors) Health Studies Degree Year 4 option course at Glasgow Caledonian University,

‘Understanding Caring Through Arts and Humanities’

Evaluation:

Two, 1-h focus group interviews (6–7 persons in each) at the end of the course.

Transcribed and interpreted hermeneutically by author

15 students in course and author (teacher in the course)

Heideggerian hermeneutics (Heidegger, Benner, Diekelmann)

Hermeneutic interpretation focusing on how the participants experienced expectations of the course, their experiences of participating and learning, their reactions to the course content and assessment, and how the course might influence or impact on their personal and professional lives

A nursing course

Greenhalgh and Shaw 2017 [45]

England

To inform policy by making sense of a complex literature on heart failure and its remote management

No specific geographic or clinical context

Hermeneutic systematic review

Interpretive approach to (1) accessing and interpreting the literature; 2) developing an argument

Included were 7 systematic reviews of systematic reviews, 32 systematic reviews (including 17 meta-analyses and 8 qualitative reviews); six mega-trials and over 60 additional relevant empirical studies and commentaries

Boell and Cecez-Kecmanovic’s (2014) [35] approach (derived from Gadamer) for a hermeneutic systematic review

Followed the question, “Is this paper likely to add meaning to our emerging overview of the field?”

Care for persons with heart failure via telehealth

Hughes et al. 2020 [46]

England

To inform policy and practice on integrated care by deepening understanding of what integrated care is, how it is experienced, and how it is conceptualized

High income countries

Hermeneutic systematic review using

repeated cycles of searching, filtering, and interpretation

Those with multiple chronic conditions associated with aging

Included were 31 primary research

publications, 22 evidence reviews, 14 theoretical and conceptual reviews,

and 4 policy documents

Boell and Cecez-Kecmanovic’s (2010; 2014) [34, 35] approach for a hermeneutic systematic review

Lines of argument of each paper were identified and interpreted across papers using “story lines of research” to make sense of findings

Integrated care or “programs of change” in healthcare systems and organizations that focus on integrating care that facilitate person-centered, relationship-based services

Larsson and Blomqvist 2015 [47]

Sweden

To investigate changes over time in an interdisciplinary group that engaged in development work regarding pain and pain assessment

Rehabilitation ward specialising in orthopedics, rheumatology, and multi trauma care

Participatory action research

7 focus group sessions over 5 months

Transcribed material analyzed by authors

3 RNs, 2 assistant nurses, 1 physiotherapist

Nyström; Gadamer; Meleis’ transition theory

Hermeneutic analysis: identified meaning units; made tentative interpretation; created main interpretation

A plan for treating patients in pain, including a pain assessment form

Thirsk et al. 2014 [48]

Canada

To explore how registered nurses address psychosocial issues for patients and their families living with chronic kidney disease, specifically how nurses’ attributions or explanations, of patient/family behavior influence their subsequent psychosocial intervention

Inpatient nephology unit

Unstructured interviews (to allow for genuine conversations). Questions centred on nurses’ practice and experience of providing psychosocial interventions with patients and families

Audio recorded and transcribed verbatim

7 registered nurses

Gadamer; Attribution theory

Hermeneutic inquiry and analysis: Interviewing until patterns became apparent. Reading/re-reading transcripts, interpretive memos, attention to the individual case, discussion of beginning interpretations of patterns; expanding interpretation through literature

Psychosocial interventions with patients and families living with chronic kidney disease

Xiao et al. 2018 [49]

Australia

To critically examine how staff and residents initiated effective cross-cultural communication and social cohesion that enabled positive changes to occur

Four aged care homes

Part of a larger critical action research project on developing multicultural workforce in residential care

Semi-structured Interviews with residents /families

Focus groups with staff over 5 months

23 residents and 7 family members (10 culturally and linguistically diverse; 20 not culturally and linguistically diverse)

56 staff

(16 culturally and linguistically diverse; 40 not culturally and linguistically diverse)

Critical hermeneutic analysis

Giddens (1984) [50] Structuration Theory

Double hermeneutic

Data analysis and interpretation informed by Giddens’ critical concepts and double hermeneutic methodology. First, a generic procedure of thematic analysis through coding, grouping codes, summarising codes into categories and identifying themes.

Categories then subjected to a critical reflection on the interplays between structural power and human agencies

Actions and social conditions that could improve cross cultural communication and address the negative consequences of poor cross cultural communication