ABSTRACT
Applied health services research or HSR aims to produce actionable results. This chapter shows that, with careful forethought and preparation, rigorously designed research can be carried out rapidly and results can even be used in real time to inform and improve the services under study. It reviews the steps undertaken in the tool's development here because they provide a model for developing and piloting new data collection tools for other projects that readers may be interested in undertaking. They make clear the immense benefit of working directly with end-users. The chapter also shows that how, in a few simple stages or improvement cycles including a literature review, draft tool generation, two focus groups, statement validation, rapid cognitive interviews, an administration ease test, and confirmation of statement validation, each of which led to improvements in the prototype a potentially useful tool was created. It provides an example of focused, rapid, anthropologically informed HSR work.
