Alexis McGill

My name is Ali McGill. I’m a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies at Memorial University working with the research team on IWP 1, Fore sighting Sustainable Coastal Community Infrastructure. My work as it relates to FOCI is to further examine methodological approaches that can be used by FOCI for fore sighting, process mapping, and performance management. My professional background is in healthcare where I have worked as a Registered Nurse and Nurse Practitioner  for over 20 years in Saint John, New Brunswick. My PhD work is focused on the use of the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM), a Systems Engineering methodology to examine and analyze complex socio-technical processes and systems. I am using the FRAM to examine how the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) process varies under everyday conditions of work in Eastern Health, Newfoundland. I will apply the FRAM to this complex care process to:

1.              Produce a functional model of the everyday activities and interdependencies of the 

CGA process in the community-based system. 

2.              Develop scenarios from data collected in semi-structured interviews with system stakeholders that depict variability in the CGA process.

3.              Determine how variability can create challenges or generate opportunities for delivery of integrated healthcare services to older adults.

4.              Provide process improvement recommendations to enhance positive variability and

dampen negative variability and nudge the community based CGA process towards a more integrated approach to service delivery.  

In addition to my empirical research campaign using the FRAM, I have published “The Functional Resonance Analysis Method as a health care research methodology: A scoping review” in the peer reviewed journal, JBI Synthesis. I have also completed two other publications which are currently under review, “Building a Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) Model: Practical Guidance on Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis” and “Establishing Trustworthiness in Health Care Process Modelling: A Practical Guide to Quality Enhancement in Studies Using the Functional Resonance Analysis Method.”  I hope to contribute my knowledge of the FRAM and its applicability to transdisciplinary research processes to the greater FOCI team.