Case Studies: Health Sector

People centric self care

• Case Studies: Health Sector
• People centric self care
• Modelling diabetes interventions
• Dynamic Modelling to improve Renal Services
• Healthy eating & healthy action - collaboration for success
• Innovations in Primary Health Information
• Green Prescriptions

Qualitative research into self care for long term conditions

Every day, people make decisions about their own health. How can primary health services best support people in their self-care? Synergia embarked on qualitative research to explore people’s experience of long-term health conditions, the impact of their social and family environments, and the interventions that support effective self-care.

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ISSUE
Chronic conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and asthma, account for a substantial and growing proportion of service demands on our health system. They are characterised by ongoing and progressive development of disease over many years. Care for chronic conditions requires a partnership between the patient and a wide range of health professionals. Every day, patients make critical decisions about their health; the health system challenge lies in creating and environment where patient decision-making supports long-term health outcomes. The Ministry of Health commissioned Synergia to examine how primary health care, and in particular the ‘information environment’ within primary health care, can best support self-care.

SOLUTION
In the first phase of the research, Synergia partnered with Janine Bycroft, a public health physician, to review the literature on how the information environment can support self-care. This revealed a wide range of information innovations that can assist individuals and families with self-care, from devices and technologies through to complex, tailored initiatives spanning the patient and the primary care practice team.
Building from these learnings, the second phase of the research examined the experience of self-care through the eyes of people with chronic conditions and their families. Synergia worked with Nielsen Research in this phase, through a series of focus groups and depth interviews. The experiences of Maori, Pacific and European people at different stages of chronic illness exposed fundamental challenges to the traditional approaches of patient management in primary care, but challenges which some leading primary health care practices are already embracing and tackling for the good of the people in their care.

OUTCOME
The research indicates that traditional concepts of ‘patient self-care’ start are focused on health services and illness, and devalue the role of family and social networks as sources of strength and resiliency in managing chronic conditions. Primary health care needs to move away from a ‘one-size fits all’ response to chronic illnesses, and instead seek to understand the wider context of people’s conditions and build on opportunities to engage with families as a whole. Approaches that recognise the realities and opportunities of patients’ lives – ‘Healthy My Way’ – are more likely to build strong foundations for sustainable learning, behaviour change, and improved health outcomes.