A Beginner's Guide to Critical Thinking and Writing in Health and Social Care

"A critical approach to reading and writing is expected from all students in health and social care courses. However, students often find this one of the more difficult aspects. This book sets about correcting the problem, and it does so in a step by step fashion by using relevant examples, learning activities and highlighting key information. It encourages readers to think and evaluate written material for themselves, and not to take every piece of literature as Gospel.

The book is very well written and laid out. It uses plain English and relies on very little on jargon, therefore making it very readable. I will definitely use it going into my course and would have no hesitation recommending it to course tutors and peers."
Conor Hamilton, Student Nurse, Queen's University Belfast, UK

Ever struggled to write a critical essay?
Ever wondered what critical thinking actually is and how you can apply it in your academic work and your practice?

This beginner's guide introduces the skills of critical thinking, critical writing and critical appraisal in health and social care, and talks you through every stage of becoming a critical thinker. Each chapter tackles a different aspect of the process and shows you how it's done using examples and simple language.

The book begins with a broad overview of critical thinking before building in subsequent chapters to discuss specific areas including:

• How to think critically about different types of information as potential evidence
• How to demonstrate critical thinking in written work and presentations
• How to adopt critical thinking in practice

Tools including 'six questions to trigger critical thinking' and 'questions for critical thinking in practice' will assist you in developing the skills to help you in both academic work and practice.

Written by a bestselling author team, this book is a fantastic resource for both students and qualified healthcare staff.

Helen Aveyard is Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, UK and author of the bestselling book Doing a Literature Review in Health and Social Care, 3rd edition and A Beginner's Guide to Evidence Based Practice, 2nd edition, both published by the Open University Press.

Pam Sharp is Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, UK. She is co-author of A Beginner's Guide to Evidence Based Practice, 2nd edition, published by the Open University Press.

Mary Woolliams qualified as a nurse and health visitor in 1990, then specialised in acute general medical nursing and the care of older people. In 2003 Mary joined the School of Health and Social Care at Oxford Brookes University, UK as a Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing.