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Biomedical subjects

Wendy Marsden

Publications and source records attributed to Wendy Marsden.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Do the British Guidelines for Asthma Management facilitate concordance?

BACKGROUND: Asthma is an example of a common, chronic illness in which clinicians are encouraged to promote concordance and adhere to guidelines. Some existing research suggests that these aims may be incompatible. OBJECTIVES: To describe patient goals for life and for asthma management in order to inform concordance with people with asthma. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, qualitative survey. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A purposive sample of 47 adults with asthma from Dundee, UK. The subjects were identified from general practice asthma registers and had a range of ages and asthma severity but no significant comorbidity. METHODS: Tape-recorded semi-structured interviews. The topic guide was based on the literature and had been piloted in a previous study. RESULTS: The participants focussed on improving their lives, only aiming to improve their asthma as a means of improving their lives. Three aspects of asthma were reported to help or hinder improving life: the use of asthma medication, trigger avoidance and exercise. People integrated these three aspects of asthma in order to maximize life. CONCLUSIONS: The study supports the more individualized goals of the recently revised British Guidelines for Asthma Management but highlights the need to develop this further in future revisions. It also provides an explanation for patients' acceptance of less than 'perfect' asthma control and it suggests that shared goals may be achieved in practice by considering the advantages and disadvantages of medication and allergen avoidance on everyday life rather than on asthma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

A survey of GP attitudes to and experiences of email consultations.

Email is an accepted part of modern communication in business and education. The use of email could benefit communication between patients and healthcare professionals. Use of email within health care has been hampered by concerns about privacy, technical barriers, perceived fear of change and increased workload.Sixty-two general practitioners within Dundee in east Scotland responded to a questionnaire and indicated that they regularly used email for communication within their practices and with outside agencies, but rarely with patients. Many perceived a need to provide an email service for clinical enquiries and repeat prescription requests but felt constrained from doing so by a lack of an accepted system and workload concerns.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2004

Email consultations in general practice.

BACKGROUND: Email is an established method of communication in business, leisure and education but not yet health care. AIM: To evaluate an email service enabling communication between patients and their general practice regarding repeat prescriptions, appointment booking and clinical enquiries. DESIGN: Qualitative analysis of interactions and an electronic user survey. SETTING: An urban practice in Dundee, Scotland. PARTICIPANTS: 150 patients aged 24 to 85. METHODS: We set up a practice facility to allow our patients to use email to book appointments, order repeat prescriptions and consult their general practitioner (GP). RESULTS: Patient satisfaction with the service was very high. Patients specifically commended the practice for setting up a facility to allow communication outside standard working hours and for the ease of ordering repeat prescriptions. Patients were pleased to have a means of seeking their doctor's comment or opinion without bothering him or her by making and attending a formal face-to-face consultation. Email dialogue was polite, factual, but less formal than standard letters. Staff did not experience any perceptible rise in workload. CONCLUSIONS: Use of an email consultation facility worked well within an urban practice, was deemed helpful by patients, and resulted in no apparent increase in GP workload. Our results suggest that there may be an unmet need amongst patients for clinical email services, and that such services may have positive outcomes for patients and practices.

Adult↗