Illness action rediscovered: a case study of upper limb pain

Sense-making strategies and help-seeking behaviours associated with urgent care services: a mixed-methods study

Background

Policy has been focused on reducing unnecessary emergency department attendances by providing more responsive urgent care services and guiding patients to ‘the right place’. The variety of services has created a complex urgent care landscape for people to access and navigate.

Objectives

To describe how the public, providers and policy-makers define and make sense of urgent care; to explain how sense-making influences patients’ strategies and choices; to analyse patient ‘work’ in understanding, navigating and choosing urgent care; to explain urgent care utilisation; and to identify potentially modifiable factors in decision-making.

Design

Mixed-methods sequential design.

Setting

Four counties in southern England coterminous with a NHS 111 provider area.

Methods

A literature review of policy and research combined with citizens’ panels and serial qualitative interviews. Four citizens’ panels were conducted with the public, health-care professionals, commissioners and managers (n = 41). Three populations were sampled for interview: people aged ≥ 75 years, people aged 18–26 years and East European people. In total, 134 interviews were conducted. Analyses were integrated to develop a conceptual model of urgent care help-seeking.

Findings

The literature review identified some consensus between policy and provider perspectives regarding the physiological factors that feature in conceptualisations of urgent care. However, the terms ‘urgent’ and ‘emergency’ lack specificity or consistency in meaning. Boundaries between urgent and emergency care are ill-defined. We constructed a typology that distinguishes three types of work that take place at both the individual and social network levels in relation to urgent care sense-making and help-seeking.Illness workinvolves interpretation and decision-making about the meaning, severity and management of physical symptoms and psychological states, and the assessment and management of possible risks. Help-seeking was guided bymoral work: the legitimation and sanctioning done by service users.Navigation workconcerned choosing and accessing services and relied on prior knowledge of what was available, accessible and acceptable. From these empirical data, we developed a model of urgent care sense-making and help-seeking behaviour that emphasises that work informs the interaction between what we think and feel about illness and the need to seek care (sense-making) and action – the decisions we take and how we use urgent care (help-seeking).

Limitations

The sample population of our three groups may not have adequately reflected a diverse range of views and experiences. The study enabled us to capture people’s views and self-reported service use rather than their actual behaviour.

Conclusions

Much of the policy surrounding urgent and emergency care is predicated on the notion that ‘urgent’ sits neatly between emergency and routine; however, service users in particular struggle to distinguish urgent from emergency or routine care. Rather than focusing on individual sense-making, future work should attend to social and temporal contexts that have an impact on help-seeking (e.g. why people find it more difficult to manage pain at night), and how different social networks shape service use.

Future work

A whole-systems approach considering integration across a wider network of partners is key to understanding the complex relationships between demand for and access to urgent care.

Study registration

This study is registered as UKCRN 32207.

Funding

The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

Coping experience of health concerns and physical disability for older Chinese people: A qualitative, descriptive study

In this qualitative, descriptive study, we explored the perspectives of older, community-dwelling Chinese people regarding their experiences of coping with a physical disability and their health concerns. Twenty participants were interviewed in-depth, and data were analyzed using content analysis. Five themes with 13 subthemes emerged that described older people's experiences of coping with health concerns and disability: (i) ignoring health concerns; (ii) managing self; (iii) seeking medical help; (iv) living with physical disability; and (v) relying on limited resources. Most participants did not have sufficient access to health services due to physical disability and financial deficits, so they tended to ignore their health conditions or tackle them independently before seeking medical help. At the same time, they were impacted on by social and cultural factors. Policies are required that offer more resources to community-dwelling people with disabilities in China.

Delaying and seeking care for obstructive sleep apnea: The role of gender, family, and morality

Social scientists have proposed various theories as to when, why, and how people come to seek medical care for multiple conditions. Yet, there is still little empirical research to illustrate the pathways into and out of care, especially for chronic illness. This article contributes to this body of work by exploring individuals' reasons for delaying and seeking care for obstructive sleep apnea, which despite being the most diagnosed sleep disorder, has been largely neglected by social scientists. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with 65 Jewish-Israeli obstructive sleep apnea patients, this study shows how intersections of gender, family, and morality shape and are shaped by care-seeking behavior. The analysis reveals that married men claim they do not do health, thereby reaffirming their masculinity, but they maintain moral status because their wives do much of their illness work for them. Unmarried men, however, claim to be more vigilant in their pursuit of health and present it as one of their responsibilities. Women acknowledge they have the double burden of protecting their own health as well as that of their loved ones, and often feel that they are incapable of meeting these social expectations. However, men and women are able to maintain moral status by explaining their neglect of health as resulting from their attempts to care for significant others. Finally, married women differ from men and unmarried women in their motivations for seeking care. In keeping with their gender roles, married women emphasize disturbance to others whereas men stress disturbance to self.

Understanding Help Seeking for Chronic Joint Pain: Implications for Providing Supported Self-Management

Osteoarthritis-related joint pain is prevalent and potentially disabling. United Kingdom clinical guidelines suggest that patients should be supported to self-manage in primary care settings. However, the processes and mechanisms that influence patient consultation decisions for joint pain are not comprehensively understood. We recruited participants (N = 22) from an existing longitudinal survey to take part in in-depth interviews and a diary study. We found that consultation decisions and illness actions were ongoing social processes. The need for and benefits of consulting were weighed against the value of consuming the time of a professional who was considered an expert. We suggest that how general practitioners manage consultations influences patient actions and is part of a broader process of defining the utility and moral worth of consulting. Recognizing these factors will improve self-management support and consultation outcomes.

A meta-ethnography of patients’ experience of chronic non-malignant musculoskeletal pain

Background

The alleviation of pain is a key aim of health care yet pain can often remain a puzzle as it is not always explained by a specific pathology. Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is one of the most predominant kinds of chronic pain and its prevalence is increasing. One of the aims of qualitative research in health care is to understand the experience of illness, and make sense of the complex processes involved. However, the proliferation of qualitative studies can make it difficult to use this knowledge. There has been no attempt to systematically review and integrate the findings of qualitative research in order to increase our understanding of chronic MSK pain. A synthesis of qualitative research would help us to understand what it is like to have chronic MSK pain. Specifically, it would help us understand peoples' experience of health care with the aim of improving it.

Aim

The aim of this study was to increase our understanding of patients’ experience of chronic non-malignant MSK pain; utilise existing research knowledge to improve understanding and, thus, best practice in patient care; and contribute to the development of methods for qualitative research synthesis.

Methods

We used the methods of meta-ethnography, which aim to develop concepts that help us to understand a particular experience, by synthesising research findings. We searched six electronic bibliographic databases (including MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO) and included studies up until the final search in February 2012. We also hand-searched particular journals known to report qualitative studies and searched reference lists of all relevant qualitative studies for further potential studies. We appraised each study to decide whether or not to include it. The full texts of 321 potentially relevant studies were screened, of which 77 qualitative studies that explored adults’ experience of chronic non-malignant MSK pain were included. Twenty-eight of these studies explored the experience of fibromyalgia.

Results

Our findings revealed the new concept of an adversarial struggle that explains the experience of people with chronic MSK pain. This included the struggle to affirm self and construct self over time; find an explanation for pain; negotiate the health-care system while feeling compelled to stay in it; be valued and believed; and find the right balance between sick/well and hiding/showing pain. In spite of this struggle, our model showed that some people were able to move forward alongside their pain by listening to their body rather than fighting it; letting go of the old self and finding a new self; becoming part of a community and not feeling like the only one; telling others about pain and redefining relationships; realising that pain is here to stay rather than focusing on diagnosis and cure; and becoming the expert and making choices. We offer unique methodological innovations for meta-ethnography, which allowed us to develop a conceptual model that is grounded in 77 original studies. In particular, we describe a collaborative approach to interpreting the primary studies.

Conclusion

Our model helps us to understand the experience of people with chronic MSK pain as a constant adversarial struggle. This may distinguish it from other types of pain. This study opens up possibilities for therapies that aim to help a person to move forward alongside pain. Our findings call on us to challenge some of the cultural notions about illness, in particular the expectation of achieving a diagnosis and cure. Cultural expectations are deep-rooted and can deeply affect the experience of pain. We therefore should incorporate cultural categories into our understanding of pain. Not feeling believed can have an impact on a person’s participation in everyday life. The qualitative studies in this meta-ethnography revealed that people with chronic MSK pain still do not feel believed. This has clear implications for clinical practice. Our model suggests that central to the relationship between patient and practitioner is the recognition of the patient as a person whose life has been deeply changed by pain. Listening to a person’s narratives can help us to understand the impact of pain. Our model suggests that feeling valued is not simply an adjunct to the therapy, but central to it. Further conceptual syntheses would help us make qualitative research accessible to a wider relevant audience. Further primary qualitative research focusing on reconciling acceptance with moving forward with pain might help us to further understand the experience of pain. Our study highlights the need for research to explore educational strategies aimed at improving patients’ and clinicians’ experience of care.

Funding

The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

Consultation and illness behaviour in response to symptoms: a comparison of models from different disciplinary frameworks and suggestions for future research directions

We all get ill and social scientific interest in how we respond - the study of illness behaviour - continues unabated. Existing models are useful, but have been developed and applied within disciplinary silos, resulting in wasted intellectual and empirical effort and an absence of accumulation of knowledge across disciplines. We present a critical review and detailed comparison of three process models of response to symptoms: the Illness Action Model, the Common Sense Model of the Self-Regulation of Health and Illness and the Network Episode Model. We suggest an integrated framework in which symptoms, responses and actions are simultaneously interpreted and evaluated in the light of accumulated knowledge and through interactions. Evaluation may be subconscious and is influenced by the extent to which the symptoms impose themselves, expectations of outcomes, the resources available and understanding of symptoms' salience and possible outcomes. Actions taken are part of a process of problem solving through which both individuals and their immediate social network seek to (re)achieve 'normality'. Response is also influenced by social structure (directly and indirectly), cultural expectations of health, the meaning of symptoms, and access to and understandings of the legitimate use of services. Changes in knowledge, in embodied state and in emotions can all be directly influential at any point. We do not underestimate the difficulty of operationalising an integrated framework at different levels of analysis. Attempts to do so will require us to move easily between disciplinary understandings to conduct prospective, longitudinal, research that uses novel methodologies to investigate response to symptoms in the context of affective as well as cognitive responses and interactions within social networks. While challenging such an approach would facilitate accumulation of knowledge across disciplines and enable movement beyond description to change in individual and organisational responses.

Applying Bourdieu's theory to accounts of living with multimorbidity

OBJECTIVES

Chronic illness is well researched. Broadly, empirical enquiry has focused on either determinants of behaviors or exploring lived experiences. This paper attempts to advance understandings of the lived experience of multimorbidity in broader cultural and structural settings.

METHODS

Twenty-three people in their early 50s were recruited from a community health survey in Scotland. The participants had 4 or more chronic illnesses and were interviewed twice. Key concepts of Bourdieu were applied to the data set

RESULTS

The analysis presented here is organized around 4 sections: 1) Habitus, capitals and the ill body; 2) Relational positioning; 3) Illness and symbolic violence; 4) The GP as dispenser of capitals. Applying Bourdieu's theory to the accounts highlighted how broader cultural structures worked their way into personal illness narratives and illustrated how living with multimorbidity is a dialectic of structure and agency.

DISCUSSION

Interventions and support for those with multimorbidity need to take into account the tensions of opposing habitus underpinning medical encounters and the ongoing negotiation of structure and agency which is integral to living with chronic illness and underpins illness actions such as help-seeking and self-managing.

Calling the doctor: a qualitative study of patient-initiated physician consultation among rural older adults

OBJECTIVE

Guided by Leventhal's self-regulatory model and Cockerham's theory of health lifestyles, we explore two questions regarding physician consultation among elderly rural adults: What symptom characteristics prompt patient-initiated physician consultation? Do participants' accounts of responses to symptoms, including the decision to consult a physician, incorporate descriptions of change over time?

METHOD

We analyze data from semistructured in-depth interviews with 62 older rural adults.

RESULTS

Accounts of decisions to initiate contact with physicians support prior research. Some symptoms encouraged immediate consultation; others prompted periods of monitoring and lay management. Physicians were most often contacted if changes were new, unusually severe, persisted or worsened, or failed to respond to lay treatment.

DISCUSSION

We characterize participants' responses to symptoms as bricolages to highlight their construction from available materials. Incorporating the integrating concept of bricolage and Cockerham's emphasis on both general dispositions and symptom-specific responses represents an important extension of Leventhal's conceptualization of illness behavior, including patient-initiated physician consultation.

The influence of socio-demographic characteristics on consultation for back pain--a review of the literature

BACKGROUND

There are several assumptions within clinical practice about who is more or less likely to consult a health care practitioner for particular symptoms, most commonly these focus around socio-demographic characteristics. We aimed to assess the evidence for the impact of socio-demographic characteristics on consultation for back pain.

METHODS

We conducted a review of the literature, using systematic methods, on consultation for back pain. Using systematic searching techniques we identified peer-reviewed publications that focused on health care consultation in response to symptoms of back pain and which included data on both users and non-users of health care.

RESULTS

We identified 23 studies. Definitions of help-seeking were inconsistent across studies. The majority of the 15 studies which considered the relationship between age and help-seeking for back pain did not find evidence of an association between these two factors. Seventeen studies considered whether socio-economic position was associated with help-seeking. The evidence largely supported the conclusion of no association (13 papers). Fifteen studies included gender as a variable in their analyses, and the majority (10 papers) presented the finding of no association.

CONCLUSIONS

The results from this review suggest that there is little evidence to support the common wisdom that socio-demographic characteristics impact on help-seeking in the context of back pain. As these assumptions relating to who is more or less likely to consult will ultimately affect patient care, it is important that they do not go unchallenged.

Chronic pain: the help-seeking behavior, attitudes, and beliefs of older adults living in the community

Psychologic variables such as attitudes and beliefs may account for patients choosing not to seek treatment for pain; however, there is a dearth of empirical research to support this contention. The aim of this study was to explore the help-seeking behavior, individual characteristics, attitudes, and beliefs of older adults with chronic pain in an Irish community setting. A descriptive correlational design was used. A convenience sample of 72 older adults with chronic pain were recruited through two primary care practices. The research instruments used were a demographic questionnaire, the Level of Expressed Need Questionnaire, which measured help-seeking behavior, the Pain Attitudes Questionnaire, and the Pain Beliefs Questionnaire. Results revealed that individual characteristics associated with help-seeking behavior were female gender, increasing age, higher education, living alone, and severe pain. High levels of stoicism were reported, indicating that participants were more likely to believe they had superior pain control and courage in the face of pain and were not willing to disclose their pain to others. These attitudes were significantly associated with lower levels of expressed need for treatment. Participants had moderate age-related beliefs about the origin of pain, but those who believed pain had an organic cause were more likely to seek help.

Help-seeking behaviour for the treatment of chronic pain

There are more people living with chronic pain than cardiovascular disease and cancer combined. Many people with chronic pain do not seek help from health professionals and suffer in silence for many years. Untreated chronic pain can lead to increased disability, increased risk of fall, depression, sleep deprivation, reduced quality of life and social isolation. The aim of this review is to determine the factors associated with help-seeking for chronic pain in an effort to highlight potential reasons why help may or may not be sought. A total of 23 studies were included in the review. On the whole the review has demonstrated that the most significant demographic and clinical factors associated with help-seeking were increasing age, female gender, pain severity and disability. Psychosocial factors included past help seeking, outcome expectancy, age-related beliefs, social cost and social influence. While the evidence presented appears promising, some conflicting results were found and methodological limitations were noted. Further research needs to examine the underlying determinants of help-seeking behaviour for chronic pain underpinned by theory. The information derived from such research will augment the development of a complex nursing intervention to improve help-seeking for chronic pain.

Lay management of chronic disease: a qualitative study of living with hepatitis C infection

OBJECTIVES

To examine management strategies and goals reported by people diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C.

METHODS

We analyzed data from semistructured interviews (N = 42) and from electronic sources [illness narratives (N = 79) and Internet threaded discussions (N = 264)]. Line-by-line coding, comparisons, and team discussions generated catalogs of lay management strategies and goals. We analyzed code-based files to identify informants' selection of specific strategies for each goal.

RESULTS

We classified lay management strategies into 3 categories: medical self-care, behavior change, and coping. These strategies were used selectively in addressing multiple goals, categorized as fighting the virus, strengthening the body, and managing consequences.

CONCLUSIONS

Results underscore the diversity of strategies for living with a disease characterized by uncertain prognosis and variable expression of symptoms.

Exploring the impact of patient views on 'appropriate' use of services and help seeking: a mixed method study

BACKGROUND

There are commonly-held views relating to what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate use of finite NHS resources. However, very little is known about how and why such views have an impact on consultation patterns.

AIM

To quantify the prevalence of opinion on whether people use health services unnecessarily within primary care and accident and emergency (A&E) in order to examine the impact of these views on help-seeking behaviour.

DESIGN OF STUDY

A mixed method study utilising cross-sectional questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews.

SETTING

A primary care practice in South West England, UK.

METHOD

Responders to the questionnaire survey were drawn from a random sample of individuals, stratified by sex, selected from one practice in the UK (n = 911). The qualitative sample (n = 22) were purposefully selected from the same general practice.

RESULTS

The quantitative data suggest that the majority of people believe individuals utilise either GP or A&E services inappropriately (65.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 62.4 to 68.7). However, strong views relating to this inappropriate healthcare use were not associated with reported seeking of immediate care (odds ratio [OR] = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.66 to 1.46 for 'lump' vignette). Responders tend to consider other people as time wasters, but not themselves. Individuals' generally describe clear rationales for help seeking, even for seemingly trivial symptoms and anxiety level was strongly predictive of health-seeking behaviour (OR = 2.88; 95% CI = 1.98 to 4.19 for lump vignette).

CONCLUSION

Perceptions that individuals' use health services inappropriately are unlikely to explain differences in help-seeking behaviours. The findings suggest that people do not take the decision to consult health services lightly and rationalise why their behaviour is not time wasting.

Frequent consulting and multiple morbidity: a qualitative comparison of 'high' and 'low' consulters of GPs

BACKGROUND

Frequent consulting is associated with multiple and complex social and health conditions. It is not known how the impact of multiple conditions, the ability to self-manage and patient perception of the GP consultation combines to influence consulting frequency.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate reasons for frequent consultation among people with multiple morbidity but contrasting consulting rates.

METHODS

Qualitative study with in-depth interviews in the west of Scotland. Participants were 23 men and women aged about 50 years with four or more chronic illnesses; 11 reported consulting seven or more times in the last year [the frequent consulters (FCs)] and 12, three or fewer times [the less frequent consulters (LFCs)]. The main outcome measures were the participants' accounts of their symptoms, self-management strategies and reasons for consulting a GP.

RESULTS

All participants used multiple self-management strategies. FCs described: more disruptive symptoms, which were resistant to self-management strategies; less access to fewer treatments and resources and more medical monitoring, for unstable conditions and drug regimens. The LFCs reported: less severe and more containable symptoms; accessing more efficacious self-management strategies and infrequent GP monitoring for stable conditions and routine drug regimens. All participants conveyed consulting as a 'last resort'. However, the GP was seen as 'ally', for the FCs, and as 'innocent bystander', for the LFCs.

CONCLUSIONS

This qualitative investigation into the combined significance of multiple morbidities and self-management on the GP consultation suggests that current models of self-management might have limited potential to reduce utilization rates among this vulnerable group. Severity of symptoms, stability of condition and complexity of drug regimens combine to influence the availability of effective resources and influence frequency of GP consultations.