Action research has grown in stature in the fields of education and industry because it centres on people and their problems. Thus it necessarily shares aspects of their human frailty and apparent fickleness: it refuses to be bound by the conventional methods used to create boundaries in scientific research. In these days of clinical governance, action research provides a valuable means of developing responsible and reflective practices that takes into account the different stakeholders within a public service environment.

Action research in health care is something of a 'new age' approach, and as such it is only beginning to be recognised and acknowledged for its tremendous potential in bringing professionals and their patients and clients closer together. This book is written in response to all those of you who have struggled in vain to find a practical, concise and yet insightful account of the use of action research methods in health care practice.

Alison Morton-Cooper has had many years of experience in the field of health care, in health services journalism, as a health educator and latterly as a senior nurse and lecturer in continuing professional education. Her MEd and PhD in Continuing Education from the University of Warwick, England, led to substantive research as to the ways health professionals learn best from practice. Last but not least, she is the mother of a teenage son diagnosed as having high functioning autism, and she is an experienced advocate for families affected by autism.