Qualitative research findings in evidenced based healthcare

Historically systematic reviews have focused on evidence related to effectiveness and as such the aggregation of results of randomised controlled trials. However health care questions are often complex requiring different research approaches to yield appropriate answers. It is acknowledged that not all research questions are amenable to the results of RCTS and as such there is now a shift towards understanding the need to incorporate research findings that acknowledge social and cultural concerns. This shift has resulted in an increased use of qualitative research findings as evidence and more specifically the systematic review of qualitative research findings. While still a relatively new area of research, the methods surrounding qualitative systematic review are fast developing. To date there are many views and debates on how this type of research should be performed. In order to gain a deeper level of understanding of these positions a discursive analysis informed by Foucault was undertaken on contemporary literature.