Biomedical subjects

Paul Cormie

Publications and source records attributed to Paul Cormie.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

How do people with cancer wish to be cared for in primary care? Serial discussion groups of patients and carers.

BACKGROUND: In most economically developed countries, patients, their informal and professional carers and policy makers are calling for more care in the community. OBJECTIVES: To involve patients with cancer, and their carers, in designing a framework for providing effective cancer care in primary care. METHODS: Two discussion groups comprising 18 people with current cancer and carers met monthly over a year in the south of Scotland. RESULTS: Patients with cancer and their carers identified five key times in the cancer journey as being especially significant from their perspective: around diagnosis, during treatment, after discharge, at recurrence and the final weeks. At each key time, there were five major issues of concern: information, communication, equity, a holistic approach and patient-centred care. Using these, the group members developed a checklist of recommended interventions for each stage in the illness trajectory and suggested how they might be implemented in primary care. Proactive and ongoing contact, if wished by the patient, was considered the central plank of cancer care in the community. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with cancer and their carers believe that there is an important and unique role for primary care in offering continuity of care and information that is patient-centred and holistic, throughout the cancer trajectory, from first presentation. This study successfully brought patient, carer and professional perspectives to the development of a care framework for primary care.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Developing a managed clinical network in palliative care: a realistic evaluation.

BACKGROUND: The attainment of evidence-based practice is at the fore of the international practice development agenda. It is therefore imperative that robust evaluation methodologies are available to scrutinise new approaches to service development. OBJECTIVES: This paper reflects on the merits and challenges of realistic evaluation design in the establishment of a new managed clinical network (MCN) approach to implementing a guideline concerned with the care of individuals with cancer-related pain. DESIGN AND METHODS: There were three evaluation points scrutinising three versions of the MCN approach to care. At each stage, steps were taken to identify the context, mechanisms and outcomes associated with the version of the model under scrutiny. Findings from patient-centred case studies fed into realistic evaluation interviews with the management group. SETTING: A rural primary care setting in Scotland. PARTICIPANTS: Three older men, their families, and the doctors and nurses providing direct care participated, along with 13 members of the network management group. RESULTS: The investigation highlighted the level of practitioner effort required to introduce the MCN approach to care. Progress was much slower than anticipated, at times frustrated by inexperience in change management and unfamiliarity with leading practice development projects and supporting practitioner learning. Issues to do with the age appropriateness of the evidence base in relation to the care of frail older people were also apparent. The professional group that experienced most role change were district nurses and community pharmacists. CONCLUSION: The collaborative approach nurtured by the realistic evaluation framework was found particularly helpful and there was consensus that the evaluation had become integral to the intervention itself. There were a number of methodological challenges and a need to limit the depth of 'realistic unravelling'. However, as a formative approach, in the messy world of interdisciplinary practice development, realistic evaluation proved a worthy design.

Cooperative Behavior↗

PubMed2006

Out-of-hours palliative care: a qualitative study of cancer patients, carers and professionals.

BACKGROUND: New out-of-hours healthcare services in the UK are intended to offer simple, convenient access and effective triage. They may be unsatisfactory for patients with complex needs, where continuity of care is important. AIM: To explore the experiences and perceptions of out-of-hours care of patients with advanced cancer, and with their informal and professional carers. DESIGN OF STUDY: Qualitative, community-based study using in-depth interviews, focus groups and telephone interviews. SETTING: Urban, semi-urban and rural communities in three areas of Scotland. METHOD: Interviews with 36 patients with advanced cancer who had recently used out-of-hours services, and/or their carers, with eight focus groups with patients and carers and 50 telephone interviews with the patient's GP and other key professionals. RESULTS: Patients and carers had difficulty deciding whether to call out-of-hours services, due to anxiety about the legitimacy of need, reluctance to bother the doctor, and perceptions of triage as blocking access to care and out-of-hours care as impersonal. Positive experiences related to effective planning, particularly transfer of information, and empathic responses from staff. Professionals expressed concern about delivering good palliative care within the constraints of a generic acute service, and problems accessing other health and social care services. CONCLUSIONS: Service configuration and access to care is based predominantly on acute illness situations and biomedical criteria. These do not take account of the complex needs associated with palliative and end-of-life care. Specific arrangements are needed to ensure that appropriately resourced and integrated out-of-hours care is made accessible to such patient groups.

Adult↗