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Primary Health Care Teams (primary + health_care_team)
Selected AbstractsEnhancing primary health care services for adults with intellectual disabilitiesJOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 3 2005C. A. Melville Abstract Background Primary health care teams have an important part to play in addressing the health inequalities and high levels of unmet health needs experienced by people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Practice nurses have an expanding role within primary health care teams. However, no previous studies have measured their attitudes, knowledge, training needs, and self-efficacy in their work with people with ID. Methods All practice nurses working in a defined area were identified. A purpose-designed questionnaire to measure nurse attitudes, knowledge, training needs and self-efficacy was developed and piloted. All practice nurses were then invited to participate. Data from completed questionnaires were entered onto PC and analysed. Results Of a total of 292 practice nurses 201 (69%) participated. Whilst 89% (n = 179) of participants reported having infrequent contact, 25% (n = 50) reported a growing workload with people with ID. Only 8% (n = 16) had ever received any training in communicating with people with ID. A knowledge gap regarding the health needs of people with ID was identified. Eighty-six per cent reported having experienced specific difficulties during previous appointments, and only 23% thought they had sufficient case note information at appointments, but 68% did not modify the duration of their appointments with people with ID. Conversely, responses demonstrated that practice nurses have a high level of experience and qualification in general nursing, have positive attitudes to working with people with ID, and high self-efficacy scores were identified for work with people with ID. The practice nurses viewed ID to be a high priority area for future training. Conclusions Primary health care teams have a key role in tackling the unmet health needs of people with ID. Whilst this project has identified factors that may impact on the accessibility of services, it has also identified practice nurses as having positive attitudes and high self-efficacy scores in their work with people with ID. This indicates that they should be targeted for specific training in this area, which may make an important contribution in enhancing future accessibility of primary health care services for people with ID. [source] Effective interprofessional teams: "Contact is not enough" to build a teamTHE JOURNAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, Issue 4 2008Joan Sargeant PhD Abstract Introduction: Teamwork and interprofessional practice and learning are becoming integral to health care. It is anticipated that these approaches can maximize professional resources and optimize patient care. Current research, however, suggests that primary health care teams may lack the capacity to function at a level that enhances the individual contributions of their members and team effectiveness. This study explores perceptions of effective primary health care teams to determine the related learning needs of primary health care professionals. Methods: Primary health care team members with a particular interest in teamwork shared perspectives of effective teamwork and educational needs in interprofessional focus groups. Transcripts from nine focus groups with a total of 61 participants were analyzed using content analysis and grounded hermeneutic approaches to identify themes. Results: Five themes of primary care team effectiveness emerged: (1) understanding and respecting team members' roles, (2) recognizing that teams require work, (3) understanding primary health care, (4) working together: practical "know-how" for sharing patient care, and (5) communication. Communication was identified as the essential factor in effective primary health care teams. Discussion: Several characteristics of effective primary health care teams and the related knowledge and skills that professionals require as effective team members are identified. Effective teamwork requires specific cognitive, technical, and affective competence. [source] Caring for people with learning disability: a survey of general practitioners' attitudes in Southampton and South-west HampshireBRITISH JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES, Issue 1 2000Ken SteinArticle first published online: 24 DEC 200 The aim of the present paper was to examine general practitioners' (GPs') beliefs about: the demands made on the primary care team by people with learning disability; their confidence in meeting health care needs and perceived training requirements; attitudes towards specialist or generic health service provision, and current contact with specialist teams; and attitudes towards screening in people with learning disability. A postal questionnaire was sent to a randomly selected partner from 95% of the practices in the Southampton and South-west Hampshire Health District. Forty-eight (75%) GPs responded and few were undecided about the demands placed on primary care teams, but beliefs were mixed. Most GPs were confident in dealing with the medical care needs of people with learning disability and the majority felt that training courses would not be worthwhile, except to learn more about specialist services where contact was very low and a ,link worker' scheme had had little apparent impact. Most respondents agreed that GPs should meet the medical needs of people with learning disability as part of general medical services and approximately half had a positive attitude towards providing regular health checks. Respondents were cautious about offering cervical cancer screening to women with learning disability. A small minority suggested that they would take no action to follow up a non-attendance for mammography. As a heterogeneous population, it is not surprising that GPs' attitudes vary widely. Further research is required to establish the nature and scale of demands made on primary health care teams, and to evaluate systematic means of addressing health care needs of people with learning disability. [source] An Evaluation of a Primary Care-Based Child Clinical Psychology ServiceCHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 3 2002Sharon Abrahams Background: This paper describes a primary care-based clinical psychology service operating in an inner London borough that provides psychological intervention for children with emotional or behavioural difficulties and their families, and consultation and support to the primary health care teams. Method: A comparison is made with a local secondary level child mental health service in terms of characteristics of referrals and clinical outcome. Referrers' perceptions of the primary care-based service are described. Results and Conclusions: The findings demonstrate a useful child and adolescent mental health service for children and adolescents with a broad range of childhood difficulties within a primary care setting, which appears to overcome some of the problems often associated with referral to secondary level services. [source] | ||||||||||