What is Summative Evaluation Research

After the Second World War democratization, information technology and globalization changed healthcare. Democratization made that clients from an object of treatment by professionals became active participants in taking care of health. Globalization brought the free market place closer to choices clients made for services. Information technology accelerated the way knowledge was accumulated and communicated by medical sciences, medical practitioners and clients. In research studies indications are found that healthcare facilitated by information technology (E-health) improved the care. However the evidence was not quite strong, also because the used research designs were not always suited for E-health. An overview of research designs leads to the conclusion that action-research is more suited for E-health, particularly when clients are taken serious as partners in healthcare. An example of action-research in mental healthcare in the Netherlands illustrates this. It also shows that a partnership between professionals and clients can be beneficial for both actors.