Effectiveness of a nurse-led, face-to-face health coaching intervention in enhancing activation and secondary outcomes of primary care users with chronic conditions.

Prevalence of chronic diseases and multimorbidity is rising, and it remains unclear what the best strategy is for activating people with chronic conditions in their self-care. We designed a two-group quasi-experimental time series trial to examine the effectiveness of a nurse-led, face-to-face, individually-tailored health coaching (HC) intervention in improving patient activation and secondary outcomes (self-efficacy, quality of life, anxiety and depression symptoms, medication adherence, hospitalization and emergency visits) among primary care users with chronic conditions. A total of 118 people with chronic conditions were recruited through a primary care center and allocated to either the intervention group (IG) (n = 58) or control group (CG) (n = 60). The IG received a nurse-led individually-tailored HC intervention involving 4-6 face-to-face multicomponent sessions covering six core activation topics. The CG received usual primary care. Data were collected at baseline, after the intervention (6 weeks after baseline for controls) and at 6 and 12 months from baseline. Compared with controls, the IG had significantly higher patient activation scores after the intervention (73.29 vs. 66.51, p = .006). However, this improvement was not maintained at follow-up and there were no significant differences in secondary outcomes across the study period. HC may be an effective strategy for achieving short-term improvements in the activation of primary care users with chronic conditions. Further studies with different methodological approaches are needed to elucidate how HC may improve and sustain changes in patient activation.

Desarrollo de materiales educativos para pacientes crónicos y familiares / Development of educational materials for chronic patients and families

Un nivel bajo de alfabetización puede dificultar la comprensión de la información necesaria para tomar decisiones apropiadas en relación con la propia salud. Esta situación está relacionada con una peor adherencia a los tratamientos, un peor estado de bienestar y una mortalidad más elevada, sobre todo en personas de edad avanzada. Resulta esencial que la información pueda ser comprendida por el paciente y su familia. Este artículo tiene como objetivo presentar las recomendaciones internacionales existentes para el diseño y la elaboración de materiales o recursos educativos para pacientes crónicos y familiares. Se describen aspectos metodológicos que engloban la inclusión de los pacientes en distintos puntos durante el proceso de desarrollo del material, la adaptación del formato y el contenido al nivel de comprensión del paciente, así como su participación en una prueba piloto antes de la publicación de los mismos. Los materiales educativos que se han elaborado con la colaboración de los pacientes resultan más adaptados a su contexto y promueven cambios positivos en su salud

Low literacy can difficult the use of information needed to take appropriate decisions in healthcare. This situation is associated with poorer treatment adherence, lower health outcomes and higher mortality among the population and, specifically, the elderly. It is essential that information can be understood by patients and families. This article aims to present the existing international recommendations for the design and development of educational materials and resources to chronic patients and families. This process encompasses the involvement of patients at various levels during the development process of the materials, the adaptation of the format and content to the level of understanding of the patient as well as their participation in the evaluation process. Educational materials that have been developed in collaboration with patients are more adapted to their context and promote positive changes in their health