Asking questions: the effect of a brief intervention in community health centers on patient activation

To evaluate the impact of a patient activation intervention (PAI) focused on building question formulation skills that was delivered to patients in community health centers prior to their physician visit.

Level of patient activation and patient preferred role were examined using the patient activation measure (PAM) and the patient preference for control (PPC) measure.

More of the 252 patients evaluated were at lower levels of activation (PAM levels 1 or 2) than U.S. population norms before the intervention. Paired-samples t-test revealed a statistically significant increase from pre-intervention to post-visit PAM scores. One-third of participants moved from lower levels of activation to higher levels (PAM levels 3 or 4) post-intervention. Patients preferring a more passive role had lower initial PAM scores and greater increases in their post-intervention PAM scores than did those who preferred a more active role.

Patients exposed to the PAI demonstrated significant improvement on a measure of activation. The PAI may be useful in helping patients prepare for more effective encounters with their physicians.

The PAI was feasible to deliver in the health center setting and may be a useful method for activating low-income, racial/ethnic minority patient populations.