A patient-reported questionnaire to measure the use of informal care, social care and personal expenses
Finanțare
National Institute for Health (NIHR) Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Ref. NIHR201961
Care este întrebarea de cercetare?
We aim to develop validated modules for a patient-reported resource-use questionnaire to estimate care costs in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and other research settings.
Care este problema?
Health economists carry out cost-effectiveness studies to determine whether particular care offers good value.
In a cost-effectiveness study, we need to measure both the cost of the care itself and its effect on other services that patients use. At the moment, our method of measuring costs is not ideal.
Care este scopul cercetării?
We are currently developing a questionnaire for asking about NHS healthcare (such as GP appointments) with input from patients. However, many people use care that is provided outside the NHS.
In this project, we aim to extend the healthcare questionnaire by developing three further modules.
The first will ask patients about social care they have used (e.g. home help).
The second will cover informal care, such as help from a partner or friend.
The final module will ask about costs that patients have paid themselves.
Cum se va realiza acest lucru?
To develop the modules, we will first determine what questions should be included by reviewing published work and examining existing questionnaires. We will also ask social care experts about services they think are important.
We will hold a group discussion with researchers and public representation to determine which suggestions are most important to measure.
We will design draft modules by writing questions that represent best practices. We will interview approximately 20 researchers by telephone to find out whether they think the modules are complete, and whether it is possible to find cost information for each question.
We will then interview about 25 patients, care users or carers to learn their views. We will use ‘think-aloud’ methods, where people will be asked to fill in the questionnaire while describing their thoughts out loud. This will allow us to learn whether there are any areas that are difficult to understand or complete, and to make further improvements.
When these stages are complete, we will post the questionnaire to about 250 members of the public to test how acceptable it is in practice. We will then finalise the wording based on the feedback. We will also prepare lists of relevant costs to accompany the questionnaire.
The result of the project will be a ready-to-use modular questionnaire for research on a wide range of diseases and health conditions.
Cine conduce cercetarea?
Dr Joanna Thorn, Research Fellow, Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol.
Informații suplimentare:
For more information or to get involved in this project, email bnssg.research@nhs.net.
Opiniile exprimate sunt cele ale autorului (autorilor) și nu neapărat cele ale NIHR sau ale Departamentului de Sănătate și Asistență Socială.