The Living Well Toolkit

Abstract

The consequences of long term health conditions result in personal, family and societal burdens, that can be reduced with good quality care and support. People living with longterm conditions consider all these aspects to be part of good healthcare.

Healthcare providers agree that these three things are vital components of healthcare and that they lead to better outcomes. Despite that, we don’t consistently see these as part of health services.

The Living Well Toolkit To address this problem, we aimed to design and implement a toolkit with consumer guidance. We held focus groups and interviews with people with long term neurological conditions, family members and clinicians to determine how to operationalise these three key processes in the healthcare pathway.

We developed the Living Well Toolkit following a four year research project, funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand.

The toolkit is a resource for clients living with long-term conditions. We have built on 10 years of research findings listening to what people with long-term conditions want from their healthcare:

-Better communication -Building on strengths and resources -Planning for the future

There are two parts to the Living Well Toolkit -Living Well Toolkit for clients -Living Well Toolkit for clinicians

Living Well Toolkit for clients: Do you think you are getting the best out of your healthcare? We’ve designed the Living Well Toolkit with a lot of help from people with long-term conditions. We’ve listened to how you think healthcare could be better and the ways you think this can be achieved.

The Living Well Toolkit can help you think about your needs and the things you want your health professionals to know about you, your family or your situation.

Sharing this information with your health professionals helps them better understand your needs and customise care to suit you We’ve seen the toolkit used in lots of different ways.

Living Well Toolkit for clinicians: We know that good quality healthcare can improve outcomes and the experience of clients with long-term health needs. Clients tell us that person-centred communication, building on their strengths and resources and planning for the future are important aspects of good healthcare and as clinicians, many of us think we do that well. We’ve talked to clients, family and clinicians about ways these processes could be better and have developed, tested and refined some resources that provide prompts about what matters to clients.

“Who is this person and what do they need from me today?” The question that can help orient us to person-centred care, “Who is this person and what do they need from me today?”

ADAPT principles As part of our research, we identified the ADAPT principles – five key principles that improve the healthcare experience for clients. Most clinicians who took part in our research found that the prompt card with the central orienting question and the ADAPT principles resonated with their views of person-centred practice and many clinicians found it helpful to remind themselves of these principles before starting a session.

Video resources We have also developed some videos that demonstrate contrasting healthcare encounters of a similar clinical interaction. In scenario A, you might recognise common clinical statements and approaches. In scenario B the clinician is attempting to use the ADAPT principles to guide her conversation. Most clinicians recognise elements of their own practice in both videos.