Virtual community of practice bolsters doctor-patient sharing but fails to improve patient empowerment and perception that doctors care

Interventions that empower patients may improve health outcomes and quality of life by encouraging them to seek a more active role in their own care. However, clinicians’ attitudes towards patient empowerment can serve as a barrier to these interventions. Researchers from Spain conducted a study to evaluate the effect of a “virtual community of practice intervention” on primary clinicians’ attitudes toward empowering patients with chronic diseases.

Doctors and nurses at 63 primary care clinics were randomly assigned to either a control group or the virtual community of practice intervention. The virtual community provided guided educational modules and discussion boards for three thematic areas related to patient empowerment: health literacy, self-management support, and shared decision-making. Researchers used the Patient Provider Orientation Scale to assess participating clinicians’ beliefs regarding the patient-centeredness of care. Higher scores indicate a belief that the provider is patient-centered, while lower scores indicate a belief that the provider is doctor- or disease-centered. The scale can also be broken into two distinct subscales: Sharing and Caring.

At 12-months follow-up, the researchers found no significant impact on the overall PPOS scores of clinicians who had participated in the intervention. However, those who had participated in the virtual community had slightly higher scores on the Sharing subscale of the PPOS. The intervention had no effect on the Caring subscale scores. Further, the intervention had no impact on patient-reported levels of self-activation. The researchers suggest that the interventions may need to be complemented with more comprehensive approaches, such as senior leadership support, integration into organizational functioning, and self-management support.

A Virtual Community of Practice to Improve Primary Health Care Professionals’ Attitudes Toward Patient Empowerment (e-MPODERA): A Cluster-Randomized Trial

Carola Orrego, PhD, et al
Avedis Donabedian Research Institute (FAD) and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Red de Investigación en Servicios de Salud en Enfermedades Crónicas, Bilbao, Spain

https://www.annfammed.org/content/20/3/204