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Does NHS Direct empower patients?

Alicia O'Cathain1, Jackie Goode, Donna Luff

  • 1Medical Care Research Unit, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Regent Court, 30 Regent St, Sheffield S1 4DA, UK. a.ocathain@sheffield.ac.uk

Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|May 17, 2005
PubMed
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NHS Direct, a UK health helpline, empowers patients through self-care advice and service access. It provides crucial support, respect, and information, fostering patient control over health decisions.

Area of Science:

  • Health Services Research
  • Patient Empowerment Studies
  • Public Health Policy

Background:

  • NHS Direct is a 24-hour telephone helpline in England and Wales providing health advice and information.
  • The broader National Health Service (NHS) context often presents challenges to patients seeking to control their health interactions.
  • Patient empowerment is a key concept in improving health outcomes and patient satisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the extent to which NHS Direct facilitates patient empowerment.
  • To understand how NHS Direct helps patients gain control over their health and healthcare interactions.
  • To identify the specific elements of NHS Direct that contribute to patient empowerment.

Main Methods:

  • In-depth home interviews were conducted with 60 users of NHS Direct.

Related Experiment Videos

  • The study focused on two specific NHS Direct sites in England.
  • Qualitative data analysis explored user experiences and perceptions of empowerment.

    • Main Results:

    • NHS Direct empowers patients by enabling self-care and access to health advice and services.
    • The service provides essential elements for empowerment, such as time, respect, listening, support, and information, often lacking elsewhere in the NHS.
    • NHS Direct legitimizes help-seeking behaviors and offers an alternative to potentially dismissive healthcare providers.
    • Patient empowerment through NHS Direct can involve both self-care and appropriate service utilization, depending on individual circumstances and needs.
    • Users also value NHS Direct for providing a sense of being cared for, particularly during times of illness or anxiety.

    Conclusions:

    • NHS Direct plays a significant role in facilitating patient empowerment within the UK healthcare system.
    • The service's ability to provide information, respect, and accessible advice contributes to patients' sense of control over their health.
    • While promoting self-care, NHS Direct also acknowledges the importance of service access and the feeling of being cared for, highlighting the multifaceted nature of patient empowerment.