Patient Centred Assessment Method (PCAM)

Citation

Hibberd C (2018) Patient Centred Assessment Method (PCAM). [ISRCTN registry]. University of Stirling: Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1186/isrctn98973169

Abstract
Background and study aims Recent approaches to assessing mental health problems in people with long-term conditions (such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) have not yielded much benefit or acknowledged the broader social problems that might contribute to poor physical and mental wellbeing. The Patient Centred Assessment Method (PCAM) has been developed to enable broad assessment of patient needs and to encourage action based on these needs. This study will assess the acceptability of the PCAM tool for addressing the needs of patients with LTCs in primary care and the feasibility of conducting a full scale study of its effectiveness. Who can participate? Patients aged over 18 attending annual reviews by participating nurses at GP practices in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Grampian and NHS Forth Valley. What does the study involve? Eight GP practices will be randomly allocated either to deliver the PCAM intervention or to deliver care as usual. Nurses from practices assigned to PCAM will receive training and other support in the use of PCAM. Patients will be asked to participate in their annual review in the way that they normally would. If they agree to take part, they will be asked to complete an anonymised questionnaire about their review. The questionnaire includes no personal identifying information, only a code which allows it to be matched to other anonymised data, so that the research team cannot know who participants are. After 8 weeks, the NHS will send a follow-up questionnaire to the patient, asking how they are and about any use of services suggested by the nurse. Some patients will be asked if they would like to take part in a brief telephone interview and some will be asked in advance if their review could be audio-recorded. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? Possible benefits would include receiving help or support which otherwise would not be offered or available. There should be no direct risks in participating, because PCAM should be enhancing what is done already. Where is the study run from? University of Stirling (UK). When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? From April 2015 to June 2016. Who is funding the study? National Institute for Health Research (UK). Who is the main contact? Dr Carina Hibberd