NHS Kidney Care appoints Ipsos to ethnography study

The NHS body has set up five project groups to develop approaches to supporting young adults who have kidney disease. Ipsos’s filmed ethnographic project has highlighted the types of challenges faced by such people in everyday life in order to identify where they are lacking support and whether they would like help.

The study, Walking in their Shoes, is set to be published as an eBook containing a series of short films featuring young adults speaking candidly about their experiences.

Ben Page, chief executive of Ipsos MORI, said: “This was one of our most interesting projects in 2012 using advanced ethnographic techniques to really understand patients’ perspectives and lead to real improvements in services, built around the lives of young adults.”

Beverley Matthews, director of NHS Kidney Care, added: “Being a young adult is not easy. I expect most of us can remember the challenges we encountered at that age, but for many of us it is difficult to imagine what it would be like with the added strain of a long-term condition. These deeply personal films offer a powerful insight into the lives of young adults with long-term conditions. They highlight the issues that we in the health service need to focus on to improve transition care and to transform the experiences and outcomes for all our young adult patients.”