Will the real “Mrs Smith” please stand up: a critical examination of the role of vignettes in integrated service development and delivery

What is it about?

Using fictitious vignettes, such as 'Mrs Smith' to represent older people and the extent to which they serve as an effective resource in developing service provision and transforming health and social care comes with caveats. The potential to ‘homogenise’ older people into the ‘typical’ patient may do very little to challenge age based stereotypes and assumptions. Moreover, vignettes cannot match the potential value and importance of older men and women directly participating in the evaluation and development of services.

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