A brief web-based person-centred care training programme for the management of generalized anxiety disorder: A feasibility randomized controlled trial in Spain (Preprint)

Abstract

Shared decision making (SDM) is a crucial aspect of patient-centered care in the field of healthcare. While several SDM training programs for health care professional have been developed, only a few have been evaluated. In Spain, Evaluation of SDM training programs in for healthcare professionals, in field generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is limited.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a brief training program of a web-based on the attitudes of primary care (PC) professionals that attends patients with GAD towards SDM and person-centered care (PCC) Spain.

We conducted a feasibility randomized controlled trial (RCT). Professional healthcare were units of randomized. A sample of thirty-four professional healthcare in Canary Islands, were divided into an intervention group (a PCC training programme) or a control group (waiting list). The researcher was blinded to group allocation; it was not possible to blind professionals. The main outcome was the Leeds Attitudes Towards Concordance scale (LATConII) score at baseline and 3 months (pre and post intervention). The intervention consisted of two online sessions based on the integrated elements of the PCC model to improve their attitudes and skills towards SDM.

A total of 13 primary care center and 23 professionals were assessed. The intervention seems to have a moderate effect in changing the attitude of professionals towards a more favourable relationship model. The intervention group significantly increased their scores compared to baseline in the total scale (B = 0.4, p = 0.033) and Communication/empathy (B = 0.58, p = 0.033), whereas the control group significantly decreased in Shared control (B = -0.43, p = 0.037).

A brief session PCC training programme for health professionals was feasible and produced significant improvements in participants’ attitude towards the SDM model. These findings highlight the potential of targeted training interventions to promote a patient-centered approach in primary care settings. Further research is warranted to explore the long-term effects and implementation strategies of SDM training programs in various healthcare contexts. Keywords: person-centered care, primary care, training professional, shared decision-making.