Background Continuing medical education (CME), as a systematic attempt to facilitate change in General Practitioners’ (GPs) practices, is considered crucial, assuming that if physicians are up-to-date, they will change and improve their practice, resulting in better performance and ultimately better patient care. However, studies continue to demonstrate considerable gaps between the real and ideal performance and patient-related outcomes. The objective of this study was to explore GP’s perception of the factors affecting the implementation of a CME digital platform in a primary health care setting in Portugal. Methods Our work is framed in a larger effectiveness-implementation hybrid type 1 study, where a Digital Behaviour Change Intervention (DBCI), called ePrimaPrescribe, was developed and implemented with the aim of changing benzodiazepines (BZD) prescribing patterns. Our design used mixed methodologies to obtain an enriched knowledge on GPs’ perspectives on the facilitators and barriers to implementing a Digital Behaviour Change Intervention (DBCI) applied to CME. To do so, we used data coming from an onsite questionnaire, an adapted version of the Barriers and Facilitators Assessment Instrument (BaFAI) and in-depth interviews. Results From the 47 GPs successfully included in the intervention arm of our cluster-randomized effectiveness study, we collected 37 onsite questionnaires, 24 BaFAIs, and performed 12 in-depth interviews. GPs reported as the main barriers to CME a lack of time, a perception of work overload, a lack of digital competence, a lack of digital infrastructure, and motivational and emotional factors. They reported as facilitators to CME delivered through a DBCI the convenience of the delivery method, the practical and pragmatic characteristics of the content, and the possibility for CME to be mandatory. Conclusions The perceptions of the barriers and facilitators reported by GPs represent an important contribution to improving knowledge regarding the factors influencing the implementation of CME in primary health care settings. We consider that our study might bring useful insights to other countries where primary health care plays a central role in the provision of care. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT04925596.

Introduction: People with dementia and their relatives should have timely access to formal care in the community. The EU-Actifcare project analysed access to and use of formal services, as related to unmet needs for care. We describe the cohort study implementation and baseline results in Portugal, with a focus on needs for care and service use assessments.Material and Methods: Our convenience sample consisted of 66 dyads of community-dwelling people with mild to moderate dementia and no significant use of formal services, and their informal carers. Measures included the Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly and Resources Utilization in Dementia.Results: People with dementia had unmet needs (mean 1.1; SD 1.7), mainly regarding company (23%), psychological distress (20%), and daily activities (14%). Family caregivers spent 150 minutes/day (median) providing support, and 44% had psychological distress unmet needs. Problems with access to or use of formal services, when present, were frequently due to attitudes or lack of knowledge of any or both members of the dyad.Discussion: The recruitment process was challenging, since the inclusion criteria were restrictive. Not claiming generalizability, we recruited a typical sample of Portuguese people with mild to moderate dementia and no significant formal community support. Levels and type of unmet needs found in some participants would call for formal support, were it not for problems regarding access or use.Conclusion: There are difficulties regarding timely access and effective use of formal care in dementia, along with relevant unmet needs.

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IntroductionIn the context of untimely access to community formal services, unmet needs of persons with dementia (PwD) and their carers may compromise their quality of life.Objectives/aimsThe Actifcare EU-JPND project (www.actifcare.eu) focuses on access to and (non) utilization of dementia formal care in eight countries (The Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Italy, Portugal), as related to unmet needs and quality of life. Evaluations included systematic reviews, qualitative explorations, and a European cohort study (PwD in early/intermediate phases and their primary carers; n = 453 days; 1 year follow-up). Preliminary Portuguese results are presented here (FCT-JPND-HC/0001/2012).Methods(1) extensive systematic searches on access to/utilization of services; (2) focus groups of PwD, carers and health/social professionals; (3) prospective study (n = 66 days from e.g., primary care, hospital outpatient services, Alzheimer Portugal).ResultsIn Portugal, nationally representative data is scarce regarding health/social services utilization in dementia. There are important barriers to access to community services, according to users, carers and professionals, whose views not always coincide. The Portuguese cohort participants were 66 PwD (62.1% female, 77.3 ± 6.2 years, 55.5% Alzheimer's/mixed subtypes, MMSE 17.8 ± 4.8, CDR1 89.4%) and 66 carers (66.7% female, 64.9 ± 15.0 years, 56.1% spouses), with considerable unmet needs in some domains.ConclusionsAll Actifcare milestones are being reached. The consortium is now analyzing international differences in (un) timely access to services and its impact on quality of life and needs for care (e.g., formal community support is weaker in Portugal than in many European countries). National best-practice recommendations in dementia are also in preparation.Abstract submitted on behalf of the Actifcare Eu-JPND consortium.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.