Introduction To Project Management In Health Research

"...for general assistance on handling projects on time and within budget, I will have it close at hand." - Health Service Journal "...excellent in that it offers practical advice on all aspects of project management." - British Journal of Midwifery "I would recommend this guide to any health care professional about to embark on a first research project. Itshould allay fears and help people avoid the common pitfalls." - Nursing Times "...a very good, simple andeasy-to-understand text book...it will be of interest to health-care practitionersbecause of its practical advice and its emphasizing of the relationship between project management and research methodology." - Nursing Times Research "It should be read by any general practitioner contemplating research." - BritishJournal of General Practice "It is the sort of thing I would like to hand out to people and say, 'Read this tonight. It might keep you out of trouble.'" - The Medical Journal of Australia "...this is a book which is written in a practical, easy to follow manner. It should equip a first-time researcher with the confidence to be able to plan and manage their project successfully, as well as providing guidance about achieving this on time and within budget." - Research Policy and Planning "...a good example of a practical approach to performing research and should be recommended."- Progress in Palliative Care "...a concise and very readable introduction to the processes involved in managing a health research project." - Journal of Public Health Medicine

* How do I plan my research in a systematic way in order to maximize my chances of obtaining funding and successfully answering my research question?

* How do I manage the project so that the research question is answered and the study objectives met, on time and within budget?

This book provides the answers to these queries and others that are frequently raised by first-time researchers. It offers a straightforward and practical description of a systematic and structured approach to research project management.

Recent years have seen a tremendous increase in research activity concerned with health and health care, and employing methodologies derived from a wide range of disciplines including epidemiology, health economics and other social sciences. Many books have been published describing the methods of such research. However, research projects that run into difficulties rarely do so for methodological reasons but through poor project management. Typical problems include running over budget, differences of opinion with key stakeholders, and missed completion deadlines. The aim of this book is to offer practical advice on the application to research of a range of project management processes including those of:

* time and activity management
* budgetary control
* management of stakeholder relationships
* product marketing

The book is aimed primarily at newcomers to health research and the intention is to describe a systematic and structured approach that will help to bring a research project to a successful conclusion.