Exploring the theory, barriers and enablers for patient and public involvement across health, social care and patient safety: a protocol for a systematic review of reviews

INTRODUCTION

The emergence of patient and public involvement (PPI) in healthcare in the UK can be traced as far back as the 1970s. More recently, campaigns by harmed patients and their relatives have emerged as a result of clinical failings in the NHS, challenging paternalistic healthcare, which have led to a new focus on PPI in quality and safety, nationally and internationally. Evidence suggests that PPI within patient safety is often atheoretical and located within a biomedical discourse. This review will explore the literature on PPI across patient safety, healthcare and social care to identify theory, barriers and enablers that can be used to develop PPI in patient safety.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

Systematic searches of three electronic bibliographic databases will be conducted, using both MeSH and free-text terms to identify empirical literature published from database inception to May 2017. The screening process will involve input from at least two researchers and any disagreement will be resolved through discussion with a third reviewer. Initial inclusion and exclusion criteria have been developed and will be refined iteratively throughout the process. Data extraction from included articles will be conducted by at least two researchers using a data extraction form. Extracted information will be analysed using a narrative review approach, which synthesises data using a descriptive method.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

No ethical approval is required for this review as no empirical data were collected. We believe that the findings and recommendations from this review will be particularly relevant for an audience of academics and policymakers. The findings will, therefore, be written up and disseminated in international peer-reviewed journals and academic conferences with a health focus. They will also be disseminated to leading health policy organisations in the NHS, such as NHS England and NHS Improvement and national policy bodies such as the Health Foundation.

An Online Learning Module to Increase Self-Efficacy and Involvement in Care for Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer: Research Protocol

Background

Improving patient care for individuals with lung cancer is a priority due to the increasing burden of the disease globally. One way this can be done is by improving patient self-management capabilities through increasing their self-efficacy. This can improve positive outcomes for patients with chronic conditions and increase their ability to manage the challenges of such illnesses. Unfortunately, patients with chronic conditions often struggle to travel far from home to engage with patient education events, a common means of improving self-efficacy. The development of more accessible tools for improving patient self-efficacy is required to increase quality of life for patients with chronic conditions.

Objective

To evaluate the feasibility of delivering symptom identification and management information to patients with advanced lung cancer using an online program.

Methods

This article describes a pre-post test study to evaluate a Qstream online learning platform to improve patient self-efficacy for managing advanced lung cancer symptoms. Undertaking this program should increase participant knowledge about the side-effects they may experience as a result of their treatment and in turn increase help-seeking behavior and self-efficacy for the participant cohort. Quantitative data collected by the Qstream platform on the completion rates of participants will be used as a tool to evaluate the intervention. Additionally, validated scales will be used to collect data on patient self-efficacy. Qualitative data will also be collected via an exit survey and thematic content analysis of semi-structured interviews.

Results

The research is in the preliminary stages but thus far a protocol has been approved in support of the project. Additionally, advisory committee members have been identified and initial meetings have been undertaken.

Conclusions

Development of new approaches for increasing patient understanding of their care is important to ensure high quality care continues to be delivered in the clinical setting.