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RESEARCH
Self-care
of minor illnesses
Independent
evaluation of the What should I do? programme
in the UK has found that people are receptive to learning
about the self-care of everyday minor illness. NOP Healthcare,
one of the UK's leading market research organisations used
a two-stage research methodology to assess patient reaction
to the What should I do? programme implemented
in the Bexley & Greenwich Health Authority area.
 82
percent of patients kept the booklet for future reference.
38
percent of respondents read the booklet thoroughly.
45
percent glanced through the booklet.
94
percent of respondents perceived the booklet as very/quite
useful.
44
percent stated that the booklet had changed the way they
dealt with a minor ailment.
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UK Research
London
NOP
Healthcare's
research into the effectiveness of the What should
I do? Programme in Bexley & Greenwich used
the following:
Pre-programme
survey by NOP Healthcare (500 face to face interviews).
Letter
box drop of short information and advertising flyer
Carer's
briefing
Booklet
distribution
Point
of 'sale/distribution' advertising
Mid
point programme survey by NOP Healthcare (1000 face to face
interviews)
Ethnic
minority and disabled self care information
Extension
to the Bexley households
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Bradford
Bradford
Health Authority
-
Patient education for the treatment of minor illnesses
in Bradford
-
Patient education initiative started in 1997 by Dr John
Halloran, RCGP member and medical advisor at Bradford
Health Authority
STUDY:
To develop and implement an educational initiative that
would inform local populations about self-care of minor
illnesses.
AIM:
To reduce GP-patient consultations for the treatment of
minor illnesses.
RESULTS
& EVALUATION:
First year research - 500 patients surveyed
in Bradford regarding the initiative.
1.
54% of patients said that it was the bilingual English/Urdu
booklet call 'Treat minor illnesses by yourself' which encouraged
them to use the 'What should I do?' booklet.
2.
77% said the 'What should I do?' booklets
had changed the way they had dealt with a minor condition.
3.
10% said the 'What should I do?' Urdu leaflets
had changed the way they had dealt with a minor condition
4.
35% found the 'What should I do?' Urdu leaflets
to be very useful
5.
71% of patients kept the 'What should I do?'
booklet for reference
Second
year research - A further 500 patients were surveyed.
1.
90% agreed that minor illnesses were self-limiting and could
be treated on their own.
2.
75% of patients said that prescriptions from the doctor
were not always necessary for minor conditions
3.
64% had sought advice from the pharmacist first or treated
themselves before going to the doctor
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Newport,
Wales
STUDY:
To evaluate
whether the distribution of a booklet on the self-management
of illness had any impact on a GP's workload. Undertaken
by Jane Thomas & Roger Walker using 'What should I
do? Do I go to the doctor?' as evaluation sample.
METHOD:
Six
month study targeting 4,500 patients with 'What should
I do?' booklet in Newport.
RESULTS:
91%
recalled receiving the booklet and of this group 54% had
read the booklet thoroughly and 43% glanced through it.
Respondents
who were over 60 were even more likely to have read the
booklet thoroughly, found it useful, referred to it and
retained it for future reference.
The
study also established that the over 60s who had received
a copy of the booklet were less likely to attend a clinic
and less likely to request out-of-hours medical services
from the GP.
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Research
in The Netherlands
The
'Wat doe ik?'
programme in Rotterdam
90%
of GPs in favour of initiative
Of
those who requested the booklet:
95
percent had kept booklet
93
percent read part of all of booklet
51
percent of respondents followed advice in the booklet
21
percent of survey sample stated they had used self help
advice than visit their GPs
1
percent of respondents saw a doctor because of the advice
in the booklet
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Research
in Australia
Rural
communities
A small
remote rural community in the Australian outback was studied
to gauge the usefulness of the new Australian version of
'What should I do? Do I go to the doctor?'. The community
of Eugowra in rural New South Wales was researched to check
its thoughts on whether a self-care minor illness booklet
would be of benefit to people who are a long way from medical
professionals on a daily basis.
There
was a 100 percent recall of interviewees receiving the booklet.
As many as 56 percent of the interviewees said they read
the booklet thoroughly with the remaining 44 percent saying
they glanced through it. No one put it to the side without
reading it at all.
Everyone
who received the booklet said they kept it for reference
and everyone found it useful to some degree with 59 percent
saying it was 'very useful'.
As
many as 34 percent of those interviewed said that the booklet
changed the way they dealt with an illness/problem or the
way medical advice was sought.
The
booklet encouraged 13 percent of people to treat themselves
while 16 percent sought help from their pharmacist instead
of the GP.
Almost
20 percent of interviewees said they had referred to the
booklet at least twice for advise on an illness or medical
program wit 13 percent saying they had consulted the booklet
more than three times.
As
many as 38 percent of those interviewed said they had already
recommended the booklet to someone else in the community.
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Sydney
A research
study involving more than 5,000 people in Sydney, Australia
who received the Australian edition of 'What should I
do? Do I go to the doctor?' showed that it was regarded
as a valuable resource which would be kept for future reference.
The study.headed by Dr Susan Whicker (National Program Manager
- Quality Use of Medicines for the Royal Australian College
of General Practitioners) and Dr Bolton (Director of Medical
Services, Woolongong Hospital) recruited 5,803 patients
from Balmain General Practice Casualty in Sydney and the
HealthConnect Telephone Triage Services to evaluate an Australian
edition of the 'What should I do?' booklet.
Key
findings of the study showed the following:
97.7 percent of respondents kept the
booklet for future reference.
37.8
percent of respondents said they managed the condition
themselves as a result of the information in the booklet.
43.5
percent of the Health Connect patients responded in
the category: Useful for common problems. May avoid a
trip to the doctor.
One
of the major outcomes of the study suggests that the use
of patient self-care information does impact on the decision
that individuals make in regard to their health care influencing
a move towards self management rather than increasing health
care seeking behaviour from existing health services.
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Proven
Track Record
The
What should I do? programme has demonstrated
that it works:
In
the Netherlands the programme cut the number of unnecessary
patient visits to GPs by 21 percent (1993-94).
A
similar programme in Denmark in 1990 cut the nation's total
health costs by 3 percent.
A
Dutch survey of 400 GPs in 1994 found that 90 percent were
in favour of the programme, and that almost 40 percent of
their patients were using the 'Wat doe ik?'
booklet.
The
Practical Savings
The
Dutch survey indicated what reducing patient consultations
by 21 percent through the use of the booklet translates
into in practical terms.
The Audit Commission cites that the average GP consults
with 140 patients a week during surgery hours. The Commission's
research also indicated that the average consultation takes
five minutes.
Introducing the booklet paves the way for potential savings
of 30 patient consultations per GP per week. This equates
to 2.5 hours a week being saved by each GP.
These savings give GPs extra flexibility. Each patient consultation
can be increased by almost a third. Or if the consultation
period is maintained, it would be possible for a GP to see:
An
extra 6 patients per day
An
extra 30 patients per week
An
extra 120 patients per month
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Health
Management Guides for chronic illnesses
RTFB
publishes a series of Health Management Guides that were
developed by a partnership between RTFB and the National
Primary Care Research and Development Centre, which is a
Department of Health-funded initiative, and the Department
of Gastroenterology both based at the University of Manchester.
People with inflammatory bowel disease also contributed
assistance and advice to help individuals improve their
understanding of Ulcerative Colitis.
The
Guides' development has been carefully researched by NPCRDC
and some of the initial research findings can be viewed
as follows:
For
a summary of self-care research at
the National
Primary Care Research and Development Centre
click here.
A paper
published in the Patient
Education and Counseling journal reports research
findings relating to how patients, GPs and specialists view
the use of the 'What should I do?' Ulcerative Colitis
Health Management Guide to help manage a chronic disease.
The
full paper is entitled:
Anne
P. Kennedy and Anne E. Rogers
Improving patient involvement in chronic disease management:
the views of patients, GPs and specialists on a guidebook
for ulcerative colitis
Patient Education and Counseling, 47 (3) (2002) pp. 257-263
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To order
your copy of a What should I do? booklet
use one of the following methods:
On-line
Shop
Phone: +44 (0) 23 8022
9041
Fax: +44 (0) 23
8022 7274
 
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