Patient asthma networks: understanding who is important and why

Abstract

Background Multidisciplinary care (MDC) has been proposed as an essential component to the delivery of effective and efficient health care. However, patients have shown to establish their own sources of health advice and support outside the professional domain. It remained unclear as to how patients' choices may impact on MDC.Objective This study aimed to explore the role of patients in MDC, specifically (i) how and why patients select sources of health services, information and support, that is, their health connections and (ii) the key elements contributing to the nature and development of patients' health connections.Methods In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with asthma participants from Sydney, Australia. Participants were recruited from a broad range of primary health-care access points. Face-to-face and telephone interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, independently reviewed by two authors and analysed using a qualitative approach.Results A total of 47 interviews were conducted. Participants established health connections around their asthma needs and selected a combination of professional, personal and impersonal health connections for advice and support. Several key elements were reported to contribute towards the nature and development of patients' health networks. These included participants' perceptions of the role of HCPs, their level of trust in relationships, the convenience of accessing health advice and their perceptions of asthma.Conclusion By exploring patients' sources of health advice and support, this research provided new insight into how patients choose to manage asthma, particularly the way in which they selected health connections and their potential impact on MDC.

Self-care of long-term conditions: patients’ perspectives and their (limited) use of community pharmacies

“…Patients with LTCs encounter and interact with a wide range of healthcare and non-healthcare networks that shape how they engage in self-care [60]. Patients in this study suggested that while healthcare professionals provided self-care information and advice relating to their LTCs, use of prescribed medicines and lifestyle management, these were often provided didactically and passively.…”

The Role of Distributed Health Literacy in Asthma Integrated Care: A Public Medical Context from Portugal

“…These barriers pose significant direct and indirect economic costs and psychosocial burden [13], particularly evident in asthmatics with inadequate health literacy [14]. Instrumental and emotional support provided by robust social networks and informal caregivers is likely to overcome such barriers [1516] by assisting asthmatics in obtaining, processing, understanding and applying basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions and meet daily self-management demands [171819]. Improvements in asthma integrated care might thus be achieved through in-depth knowledge about how health literacy is dispersed through a group of individuals or a community is considered – distributed health literacy – as coined by Edwards et al [20].…”

Social Support Networks of People Recently Diagnosed with HIV in Queensland: A Qualitative Exploration

“…It is important to note that social support networks are not static. Rather they are dynamic, variable and subject to stigma (Ciambrone, 2002;Green, Atuyambe, Ssali, Ryan, & Wagner, 2011;Kebede, 2012) and their capacity for support can be strengthened with the inclusion of key individuals, groups, services and online supports, in response to changing needs (Cheong, Armour, & Bosnic-Anticevich, 2015;Smith & Christakis, 2008).…”

“…The relationships that bind and integrate people within social networks are also the pathways that determine individuals' exposure to, ideas, practices, opportunities risks, norms and, importantly, social support (Berkman et al, 2000;Smith & Christakis, 2008;Valente, 2012). Moreover, people adapt to new circumstances and change behaviours through social comparison, observing what others do, modelling on those in similar situations and taking advice from those whose opinion they trust and respect (Cheong et al, 2015;Vassilev et al, 2014).…”

“…Existing research demonstrates that much of self-management support is informal, occurring among personal communities, yet guidance from experts is critical (Cheong et al, 2015;Rogers et al, 2011). Formal support is generally understood as the domain of providers who are trained professionals, work within a defined scope of practice and are typically paid for their work (although they may also be trained volunteers) (Vassilev et al, 2013).…”