Balancing between being the most valuable player (MVP) and passing the ball: a qualitative study of support when living with chronic pain in Sweden

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to elucidate the meaning of lived experiences of support from social networks and the healthcare sector in persons with chronic pain.

DESIGN

A qualitative, phenomenological hermeneutic method was used to analyse interview data.

SETTING

Participants were recruited from patient organisations in Sweden.

PARTICIPANTS

Ten (seven women, two men and one non-binary) individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain were included.

FINDINGS

The meaning of lived experiences of support in persons with chronic pain involves balancing between being the most valuable player (MVP) and passing the ball, meaning balancing between being a capable person and accepting support to be that capable person.

CONCLUSION

For participants who lived with chronic pain, support means balancing between being capable (the MVP) and willing to accept support (passing the ball), which aligns with the concept of person-centred care. Our findings may be useful for policy-makers, managers and clinical professionals when planning and performing care for persons with chronic pain. Future research should focus on how the healthcare sector can create support to enable persons with chronic pain to be the MVP while being able to pass the ball to their social networks and the healthcare sector.

Healthcare professionals' experiences of job satisfaction when providing person-centred care: a systematic review of qualitative studies

OBJECTIVES

This qualitative systematic review aimed to explore and synthesise healthcare professionals' (HCPs) experiences of job satisfaction when providing person-centred care (PCC) in healthcare settings in Europe.

METHOD

This systematic review of qualitative studies was followed by a thematic synthesis applying an inductive approach. Studies concerning HCPs and different levels of healthcare in Europe were eligible for inclusion. The CINAHL, PubMed and Scopus databases were searched. Study titles, abstracts and full texts were screened for relevance. Included studies were assessed for methodological quality using a quality appraisal checklist. Data were extracted and synthesised via thematic synthesis, generating analytical themes.

RESULTS

Seventeen studies were included in the final thematic synthesis, and eight analytical themes were derived. Most studies were conducted in Sweden and the UK and were performed in hospitals, nursing homes, elderly care and primary care. Thirteen of these studies were qualitative and four used a mixed-method design in which the qualitative part was used for analysis. HCPs experienced challenges adapting to a new remoulded professional role and felt torn and inadequate due to ambiguities between organisational structures, task-oriented care and PCC. Improved job satisfaction was experienced when providing PCC in line with ethical expectations, patients and colleagues expressed appreciation and team collaboration improved, while learning new skills generated motivation.

CONCLUSION

This systematic review found varied experiences among HCPs. Notably, the new professional role was experienced to entail disorientation and uncertainty; importantly, it also entailed experiences of job satisfaction such as meaningfulness, an improved relationship between HCPs and patients, appreciation and collaboration. To facilitate PCC implementation, healthcare organisations should focus on supporting HCPs through collaborational structures, and resources such as time, space and staffing.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42022304732.

The use of text-mining software to facilitate screening of literature on centredness in health care

Research evidence supporting the implementation of centredness in health care is not easily accessible due to the sheer amount of literature available and the diversity in terminology and conceptualisations used. The use of text-mining functions to semi-automate the process of screening and collating citations for a review is a way of tackling the vast amount of research citations available today. There are several programmes that use text-mining functions to facilitate screening and data extraction for systematic reviews. However, the suitability of these programmes for reviews on broad topics of research, as well as the general uptake by researchers, is unclear. This commentary has a dual aim, which consists in outlining the challenges of screening literature in fields characterised by vague and overlapping conceptualisations, and to exemplify this by exploratory use of text-mining in the context of a scoping review on centredness in health care.

Becoming more of an insider: A grounded theory study on patients' experience of a person-centred e-health intervention

OBJECTIVE

The aim was to explore the experiences of a person-centred e-health intervention, in patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or chronic heart failure (CHF).

DESIGN

Grounded theory was applied to gather and analyse data.

SETTING

The study is part of a research project evaluating the effects of person-centred care (PCC) using a digital platform and structured telephone support for people with COPD or CHF recruited from nine primary care units in Sweden.

PARTICIPANTS

Twelve patients from the intervention group were purposefully selected in accordance with the initial sampling criteria.

INTERVENTION

The intervention was delivered through a digital platform and telephone support system for 6 months. The intervention relied on person-centred ethics operationalised through three core PCC components: patient narratives, partnership and shared documentation.

RESULTS

A core category was formulated: Being welcomed through the side door when lacking the front door keys. The core category reflects how a PCC intervention delivered remotely provides access to mutual and informal meetings at times when professional contacts were desired to support patient self-management goals. According to patients' wishes, family and friends were seldom invited as care partners in the e-health context.

CONCLUSIONS

A PCC intervention delivered remotely as a complement to standard care in a primary care setting for patients diagnosed with COPD or CHF is a viable approach to increase patients' access and involvement in preventive care. The e-health intervention seemed to facilitate PCC, strengthen patients' position in the health service system and support their self-management.