This article illustrates how the concept of reflexivity has matured in conjunction with developments in qualitative research, and makes the case for inclusion of a reflexive account to increase the rigour of the research process. A qualitative study (Jootun and McGhee 2006) is used to show how the reflexive process improved data reliability. Reflexivity is an invaluable tool to promote understanding of the phenomenon under study and the researcher's role. The relationship between, and influence of, the researcher and participants should be made explicit.

A researcher who is close to the field may already be theoretically sensitized and familiar with the literature on the study topic. Use of literature or any other preknowledge should not prevent a grounded theory arising from the inductive-deductive interplay which is at the heart of this method. Reflexivity is needed to prevent prior knowledge distorting the researcher's perceptions of the data.

Admission to hospital has been found to have a negative impact on people with dementia. The Scottish Dementia Champions programme was developed to prepare health and social service Dementia Champions working in acute settings as Change Agents. The programme was initially delivered to a cohort of 100 health professionals via blended learning, and comprised five study days, a half day spent in a local community setting, and e-learning. In order to complete the programme and graduate, participants were required to complete and submit reports relating to three work-based activities. The evaluation of the project adopted a two-pronged approach: Impact on programme participants was assessed by scores derived from the Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire (ADQ) (Lintern, 1996) completed at Study Days 1 and 5, and analysis of qualitative data derived from the three written assignments. Participants were asked to evaluate course materials and input for each of the five study days, as well as satisfaction with delivery. Analysis of data derived from the ADQ and 100 reflective reports of the community experience indicate that participants' perceptions of people with dementia shifted significantly during the Programme. Participants identified a range of issues which should be addressed with a view to improving the experiences of people with dementia in acute settings, and put in place actions to bring about change. The format of the programme provided a cost effective means to prepare NHS and Social Service Dementia Champions as Change Agents for practice within a relatively short period of time, and would be transferrable to other staff groups as well as different organisational structures in other countries.

, Twitter: @JasTay10r Funding: Commissioned and funded by NHS Education Scotland (NES) Conflict of Interest: None declared Ethical Approval: Ethical approval was gained from each of the participating academic institutions for all locally conducted phases of data collection (Ethics numbers: SREC 2017010; SREC 2017034; STAFF003; STAFF009; SERP ref 10-04). Approval for the national school teacher survey was gained from one institution (SREC 2018004).