Activity 2

Qualitative Study

The qualitative study aimed to understand the experiences of patients who are living with the two exemplar conditions, how they manage their care themselves and how their care is managed by health care providers.  It included those who were already receiving and providing care through an existing telehealth scheme and those who found support through a variety of support groups.  The views of healthcare professionals were also sought in order to explore how services provided by NHS Direct could be integrated with existing models of care. The study used in-depth interviews and focus groups to collect data.

Participation was sought from the following groups of patients;

• Patients currently enrolled with Birmingham OwnHealth who were being treated for cardiovascular related conditions. 
• Patients, either at increased risk of CVD or have depression, who took part in the patient survey study (see below)
• Patients registered at participating GP practices and identified as having raised CVD risk or depression or who had been screened for these conditions, e.g. through the NHS Health Check screening programme. 
• Patients suffering from cardiovascular disease or depression who participated in either face-to-face support groups or online support groups. 

Participation was sought from the following groups of healthcare professionals

• An initial number of key informants comprising healthcare professionals known to the research team who were interested in self care issues and the use of telehealth.
• The care managers at the Birmingham OwnHealth call centre who dealt with the calls and managed the long term care of the members. 
• The GPs and nurses in the Birmingham practices who referred patients to the OwnHealth scheme. 
• GPs and nurses in the participating practices from which patient interviewees had been recruited. 

This activity was conducted by researchers at the University of Manchester.