Identifying dimensions of empowerment in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a qualitative study

The role of patients' empowerment in enhancing the quality of life of chronic patients is undeniable and its importance in health policy making and health care is increasing day by day. However, no guidelines have been defined to empower people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The purpose of this study was to identify the dimensions of IBD patients' empowerment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 participants who were purposefully selected from 2 IBD clinics in Tehran and Shiraz cities to gain diversity in the clinical and demographic characteristics. The data were analyzed based on the Granheim and Landman's content analysis method. According to the result of this study, the empowerment of IBD patients is composed of five dimensions including self-care, psychological coping with disease, social interaction skills, disease-specific health literacy and self-evaluation. The participants' most emphasis was on self-care and psychological coping dimensions. These findings can be used as a basis for educational interventions toward IBD patients' empowerment. More researches are needed to explore factors affecting the empowerment processes of IBD patients.