Bringing patient advisors to the bedside: a promising avenue for improving partnership between patients and their care team

Peer support impact on therapeutic adherence in patients with multiple sclerosis: a mixed-methods pilot trial protocol

INTRODUCTION

Patient partnership is a key component of patient-centred care. One form of partnership is individual peer support, which can improve patients' quality of life and adherence to treatment. Patient with multiple sclerosis could benefit from this type of support, but such an intervention has not been explored in the literature.We propose in this article a pilot study protocol to assess the feasibility and acceptability of healthcare-integrated individual peer support, and the feasibility of a large-scale efficacy trial.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The PAIR-SEP study is a mixed-methods pilot clinical trial combining quantitative and qualitative approaches. Sixty patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis undergoing drug therapy from the Neurology centre of Nantes University Hospital (France) will be randomised on a 1:1 ratio to receive either usual care only or usual care combined with peer support (three individual sessions at 1, 3 and 5 months with a peer helper).We will evaluate clinical outcomes in preparation of the large-scale trial: therapeutic adherence 6 months after baseline, therapeutic compliance, quality of life, anxiety and depression, social support. All dimensions will be assessed using validated health questionnaires at baseline and at 6 months.Intervention's acceptability and feasibility will be evaluated using qualitative methods: undirected interviews with patients from the intervention group and separate focus-groups with the peer helpers the healthcare team.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethical approval was obtained from the local ethics committee on 1 October 2022. This study was designed in collaboration with multiple sclerosis peer helpers.The trial findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT05519553.

Patient involvement in healthcare workers' practices: how does it operate? A mixed-methods study in a French university hospital

BACKGROUND

The present challenge for patient involvement is the improvement of healthcare efficiency through a deeper consideration of the patient experience. In hospitals, numerous interventions promoting patient involvement are informally implemented by healthcare workers (HCWs). The first aim of this study was to conduct an overview of hospital HCWs' experiences of the involvement of patients or their representatives. This overview included the involvement of patients in the domains of healthcare provision and support for other patients, healthcare quality and safety improvement, training and research. The second aim was to describe the challenges and conditions for the development of participative interventions by HCWs.

METHODS

We conducted a mixed-methods sequential study at Nantes University Hospital from September 2017 to May 2018. To achieve the first aim, we performed a descriptive analysis of quantitative data collected via a questionnaire survey of 1290 HCWs. To achieve the second aim, we conducted a thematic analysis of qualitative data collected via eight semi-structured interviews with HCWs who reported involving patients or their representatives (family and patient association members) in healthcare.

RESULTS

Among the 213 survey participants (16.5%), 133 reported a total of 424 participative interventions, mostly in the domains of care quality and safety (37%) and care provision and support (29%). The analysis of the qualitative data evidenced three types of factors determining the implementation of such interventions: the profiles of patients and their representatives, the beliefs and attitudes of HCWs, and organisational factors. While leadership from patients and HCWs was a central element in the development of patient involvement interventions, organisations' capacities to foster a sustainable partnership culture appeared to be the next challenge to promote the patient-as-partner model in health systems. Our results also highlighted numerous benefits of patient and representative involvement for patients and HCWs.

CONCLUSIONS

The numerous initiatives reported show that patients and patient representatives participate alongside HCWs in hospitals. It is essential to take into account the facilitating and hindering factors of patient involvement in hospital HCWs' practices for the further development of current initiatives. Additional studies, especially from the point of view of patients, are needed to complement our findings.

Contribution of patient-advisors during rehabilitation for replantation of digits improves patient-reported functional outcomes: A presentation of concept

Clinical approach to surgical patients has evolved to include previous patients as part of the treating team in the role of "patient-advisors". Knowing that compliance to rehabilitation protocols is significant for a successful functional hand replantation, we set out to quantify functional patient-reported outcomes in individuals enrolled in a Patient-Advisor Program (PAP). We performed a prospective cohort pilot study of all patients admitted for a finger replantation between July 2015 to January 2016. All patients were offered to partake in the PAP, or else they would constitute the control group. Primary endpoints were functional outcomes as reported by patients at 6-8weeks and 4-6months of follow-up. Secondary endpoints were patient-reported pain and quality of life questionnaires. In total, 62 patients were admitted for finger replantation in the studied period, in which 50 agreed to participate in the study, including 7 in the patient-advisors group and 43 in the control group. Patients from the patient-advisors group fared better on mean scores of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand than controls (29.6 vs 34.8 respectively at 4-6months). Improvements in the McGill Pain Questionnaire were also greater in the studied group (19.9 vs 33.3 at 4-6months). Replantation patients benefiting from the PAP demonstrated superior functional outcomes on self-reported questionnaires, which could be explained by a better understanding of rehabilitation protocols and compliance when previous patients are active members of the treating team.