HOW TO WRITE A GREEN NEPHROLOGY CASE STUDY
Case studies are a useful means of sharing and encouraging good practice, and are playing an important role in the Green Nephrology Programme. Case studies highlight the strengths of individual initiatives and lead the reader through the practicalities involved in implementing them locally.
- Good case studies are usually very simple. In general, keep to one initiative per case study.
- Case studies are not ‘technical reports’. They should be a ‘good read’ – including photos and quotes may help with this.
- However, do try to be thorough. The best case studies tell the reader everything they need to know or signpost them directly to further resources.
The template below is intended to provide guidance only. Not every section will be relevant to every case study.
CASE STUDY TEMPLATE
Project Description
Begin by collecting as much information as possible about the initiative. From this information, distil out those facts that are likely to be most important to the reader.
Then, build these facts into a narrative, remembering that this should be sufficiently complete that it allows an outside reader to understand how the initiative has been put into practice.
It may be helpful to think of the case study in terms of:
Where was it undertaken?
What was the problem that was identified?
What was the solution that was found?
What resources were required to implement the solution?
Which personnel were involved?
What was the timeframe?
Has the initiative been implemented elsewhere, before or since?
How have patients and staff responded to the new practice?
Intended Benefits
Most initiatives will have a primary benefit – the solution to the problem that has been identified – and this should usually be described first. But there are often other co-benefits. These might include…
Green Nephrology case studies will usually offer benefits to the environment. Think about how best to describe these. For example, the benefits of a reduction in patient travel might be expressed in terms of the CO2 savings, but might be more easily appreciated if also expressed in terms of the reduction in miles travelled.
Are there any benefits for patients? Does the initiative improve the standard of the care that patients receive in any way? For example, does it make their care more convenient, or even safer? Does it make their care more efficient, perhaps reducing waiting times? Might the financial savings allow more money to be invested directly into patient care?
Many green initiatives offer direct health benefits. For example, initiatives to promote active travel help to tackle obesity whilst also reducing traffic (and therefore accidents and pollution-related illnesses).
Does the initiative offer benefits to the parent organisation, for example through the opportunity to gain good publicity (perhaps by showcasing it within the Good Corporate Citizen scheme)?
Or maybe there are benefits to the Local Community?
Dis-benefits
It may be that, although outweighed by the benefits, the initiative also has some downsides. These should be acknowledged, and any strategies to avoid or minimise them should be mentioned.
Financial Appraisal
The need to presenting a sound business case at a local level may prevent readers from following through with their good intentions, so a good case study will make this aspect as simple as possible for them. Both the costs and savings should be considered, with the costs further categorised as either implementation costs (occurring only once) or ongoing maintenance costs (which will accrue year on year).
Together, the costs and savings are often best expressed as a return on investment (ROI), which is calculated by dividing the savings by the costs and multiplying by one hundred. It is helpful to identify the ‘break-even point’ – the point in time at which any implementation costs are recouped, and after which savings are made.
A table may be helpful to convey this information. For example, if a project costs £1000 to implement, and £50 a year to maintain, but saves £1000 per year, the financial appraisal might be displayed as follows:
End of Year… / Implementation costs to date / Maintenance costs to date / Total Costs to date / Savings to date / Return on Investment*1 / £1,000 / £50 / £1,050 / £1,000 / 95% +
2 / £1,000 / £100 / £1,100 / £2,000 / 174%
5 / £1,000 / £250 / £1,250 / £5,000 / 400%
10 / £1,000 / £500 / £1,500 / £10,000 / 666%
* ROI = [(Savings / Costs) x 100]
+ In this case, the break-even point (when ROI = 100%) will occur soon after one year.
Finally, guidance regarding seeking the initial funding for the project may be helpful. Who should be approached within the local organisation? Are there opportunities to seek external funding or bursaries?
Potential Barriers
An important role of a case study is to forewarn readers of the potential barriers that might be encountered when implementing the project locally. These will, of course, depend on the project in question, but it may be worth considering the following:
- Are there any health and safety considerations?
- Will staff need to be trained?
- What have people’s attitudes to the project been?
- Are there any logistical considerations; for example, is a certain amount of space required?
- Are there any policy barriers?
Risks
Any form of change presents some risks and these should be acknowledged. It may be helpful to consider both the probability of the risk actually occurring, and the magnitude of any impact should the risk indeed occur.
Contact Details
Good case studies include the names, roles, and contact details of those individuals who have contributed to the initiative. The experience and expertise of these people may make all the difference in helping another unit to implement the initiative.
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