Family physician enabling attitudes: a qualitative study of patient perceptions

BMC Family Practice

Research Article

Mireille Lambert¹  Marie-Eve Poitras¹  William Hogg²  Catherine Hudon³  Gina Bravo⁴  Denise St-Cyr Tribble⁵ 

[1] Centre de santé et de services sociaux de Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada;Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada;Département de médecine de famille et de médecine d’urgence, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada;Centre de santé et de services sociaux de Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada;Département des sciences de la santé communautaire, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada;École des sciences infirmières, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada;

关键词: Power (psychology);    Enablement;    Patient-centred care;    Family practice;    Primary health care;    Chronic disease;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2296-14-8

 received in 2012-10-24, accepted in 2013-01-09,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundFamily physicians frequently interact with people affected by chronic diseases, placing them in a privileged position to enable patients to gain control over and improve their health. Soliciting patients’ perceptions about how their family physician can help them in this process is an essential step to promoting enabling attitudes among these health professionals. In this study, we aimed to identify family physician enabling attitudes and behaviours from the perspective of patients with chronic diseases.MethodsWe conducted a descriptive qualitative study with 30 patients, 35 to 75 years of age presenting at least one common chronic disease, recruited in primary care clinics in two regions of Quebec, Canada. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and were analyzed using thematic analysis.ResultsFamily physician involvement in a partnership was perceived by participants as the main attribute of enablement. Promoting patient interests in the health care system was also important. Participants considered that having their situation taken into account maximized the impact of their physician’s interventions and allowed the legitimization of their feelings. They found their family physician to be in a good position to acknowledge and promote their expertise, and to help them maintain hope.ConclusionsFrom the patient’s perspective, their partnership with their family physician is the most important aspect of enablement.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Hudon et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013