Empowering Patients: The Role of Care Plans in Self-Management
Patient Perspectives on Care Plans and Adherence: A Study Overview
Hi, my name is Dr. Cheryl Staltz, and I am a senior scientist at the Palaa Medical Foundation Research Institute and the Center for Health Systems Research at Sutter Health, a Northern California not-for-profit Community Health System. I was the lead author of a study called “Patient Perspectives on Plans Generated During Primary Care Visit and Self-Reported Adherence at 3 Months: Cluster Randomized Control Trial” in the Journal of Participatory Medicine.
In our paper, “Patient Perspectives on Plans Generated During Primary Care Visit and Self-Reported Adherence at 3 Months: Cluster Randomized Control Trial,” we sought to better understand patients’ views on their Primary Care visits, the care plans generated, and if they reported following their plan three months after the visit.
Study Objectives and Results
The results of this multi-site study suggest patients were significantly more likely to follow the care plan’s recommendations when they thought the plan was clear, they agreed with the plan and were initially willing to follow the plan developed with their provider. Our study also showed patients whose care plans involved Lifestyle Changes were less likely to report they adhere to their care plan.
Key Findings
These findings can be applied to potentially improve care by encouraging providers to consider helping the patient identify and set their own health and wellness goals, and also identify potential barriers to completing their goals and ways to overcome them.
Publication and Research Impact
We chose to submit our research to JMIR Publications because we believe that the Journal of Participatory Medicine was the best fit for the type of study we conducted. In our study, we examined how the experience in the exam room between patients and providers translates to potential actions taken by patients in their daily lives to ideally improve health and wellness.
