‘All singing from the same hymn sheet’: Healthcare professionals' perceptions of developing patient education material about the cardiovascular aspects of rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Although healthcare professionals agree that it is important to convey the increased CVD risk to patients with RA, there is concern they may be less proactive in promoting risk management strategies. There was uncertainty about the best time to discuss CVD with RA patients. Maintaining a close relationship between primary and secondary care was thought to be important, with all healthcare professionals 'singing from the same hymn sheet'. These findings can inform the development of novel education material to fulfil a currently unmet clinical need.

Foot health education for people with rheumatoid arthritis: the practitioner's perspective

“…Podiatrists have the skills and knowledge to assess and monitor patients' lower limb vascular status and are well placed to discuss the effect of smoking on lower limb health, such as the development of peripheral arterial disease, which is accelerated in people with RA [18,19]. Patient education for people with RA about cardiovascular disease has been recognised as being poorly promoted by health care professionals [20]. …”

Patient Evaluation of a Novel Patient Education Leaflet About Heart Disease Risk Among People with Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…This may have related to the fact that it ‘broke bad news’ about co‐morbid CVD associated with RA (John et al, ). The converse would be to adopt a more paternalistic view that patients could not cope with bad news (Coulter, ); however, this denies patients the opportunity to make informed decisions about their lifestyle (John et al, ). Certainly, the empowerment that respondents wrote about in the free text comments suggests that the information was appreciated and would be acted upon.…”

“…Mindful that the literature reports a potential incongruence between the information provided by health professionals and the information that patients request (Hirsh et al, ), it was felt important to have patient input both in the development of the leaflet and in its evaluation. Hence, qualitative research with stakeholders was performed, namely individual interviews with patients with RA and focus groups with relevant healthcare professionals (John et al, ). This revealed that patients were mostly unaware of the association between RA and CVD, but were interested in learning what could be done to address their risk, requesting ‘common sense’ advice, taking into account their RA (John et al, ).…”

Rheumatoid arthritis: is it a coronary heart disease equivalent?

“…This includes not only patients, when education about relevant lifestyle modifications needs to be provided within the context of any physical and psychosocial constraints related to RA [47], but also health professionals. The excess CVD risk conferred by RA has been shown to be under-recognized and under-assessed in primary care [48 ]; appropriate education of both primary and secondary healthcare professionals is required so that a consistent message is given to the patient [49].…”