For this year’s World Arthritis Day (WAD), the theme is: 'Informed Choices, Better Outcomes'. World Arthritis Day 2024 focuses on the importance of access to accurate information. This campaign aims to help individuals make informed decisions in partnership with their healthcare professionals, improving their health and quality of life.
This year’s theme chimes very well with the introduction of Patient Initiated Follow-up (PIFU), or Patient Initiated Return (PIR), which is being rolled out across the UK across all specialties. PIFU is, or should be, first and foremost, about personalising care to patients, and improving patient outcomes and experiences. However, it has been acknowledged that sufficient good quality data to show that this approach to managing follow up care is automatically better than routine follow-up appointments being booked by the rheumatology team, is lacking. Therefore, to gather robust data to look at this model of care, a very important study is being led by Professor Laura Coates at Oxford, with the title Tailor - Trial pAtient-Initiated care Leading to improved Outcomes in Rheumatology. The question being asked is: To assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of patient-initiated follow-up (PIFU) compared with standard pre-arranged appointments for people with inflammatory arthritis (IA). NRAS and NASS have provided Patient and Public Involvement representatives for the study team.
Prof. Coates recognised the need for a more standardised and informed approach to implementing PIFU, particularly in rheumatology, where patients typically require lifelong care.
"PIFU is a complex and nuanced intervention. When it works, it’s brilliant. But when it doesn’t, it can be challenging. Many patients, especially those from vulnerable populations, struggle to understand their conditions and navigate the healthcare system. This can lead to missed opportunities for care and worsened outcomes.”
As part of this study, the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) has funded a range of resources and materials for both patients and health professionals that have been created by the study team which will be disseminated to the trial sites across the UK. They will also be made more widely available this World Arthritis Day, 12th October 2024 to all rheumatology teams to support the rollout of PIFU, improve shared decision-making and to save rheumatology teams from having to ‘invent’ their own resources ensuring that patients can make more ‘informed choices’ leading to ‘better outcomes’.
The resources available to support patients and health professionals, this World Arthritis Day are:
- Video Animation explaining PIFU
This animation is also available with subtitles in the following languages: Cantonese, Polish, Punjabi, Romanian, Urdu and Welsh.
- A4 patient leaflet with infographic available in print form and online form
- Patient FAQ document which local teams can tailor to their own Trust information
- Clinician pack which includes brief case studies of centres who have successfully introduced PIFU
Prof. Coates highlights: "Shared decision-making is critical to a successful PIFU service. With the right educational materials, patients can make informed decisions about their care, leading to better outcomes and more efficient use of healthcare resources."
Source: BSR