Health Care Professionals’ Experiences of Facilitating Patient Activation and Empowerment in Chronic Illness using a Person-Centered and Strengths-Based Self-Management Program

Abstract

Objective Patients with chronic illness who are empowered and activated are more likely to engage in self-management in order to stabilise their condition and enhance their quality of life. This study aimed to explore Health Care Professional's (HCP) assessment of a person-centered intervention called ‘The Bodyknowledging Program’ (BKP) for the facilitation of empowerment and patient activation in the context of chronic illness. Methods This study employed a qualitative process evaluation after programme completion. Data was collected through focus-groups and individual interviews with HCPs and content analysis was used in the analysis. Results Four themes were identified: 1) Shifts towards the patient-perspective, 2) The value of a patient-centered conceptual framework, 3) Patient activation through dialogue based support and 4) Challenging competencies. Discussion: This study introduces ‘The Bodyknowledging Program’ as a useful tool to uncover patients’ needs and to activate and empower them to take more responsibility for their health through self-care management. The usability of the new intervention depends on HCP's ability to develop their counselling skills and changing their approach towards utilising patients’ individual resources in the promotion of their health.