Patrick Timpel
Technische Universitaet Dresden, Germany
Biography
Modern health systems are increasingly faced with the challenge to provide effective, affordable and accessible health care for people with chronic conditions. As evidence on the specific unmet needs and their impact on health outcomes is limited practical research is needed to tailor chronic care to individual needs of patients.
A mixed method study was applied. A survey (n = 92) of experts in chronic care was conducted to analyse chronic care programs focusing on successful, unsuccessful and missing components. An expert workshop (n = 26) was used to define a limited number of unmet needs and priorities of elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and comorbidities. This list was validated and ranked using a multilingual online survey (n = 642).
The study results demonstrate that patients’ unmet needs are mostly part of complex situations and competing demands which are not limited to medical conditions. The survey indicated that current care models need to be improved in terms of financial support, case management and the consideration of social care. The expert workshop identified 150 patient needs which were summarised in 13 needs dimensions. The online survey of these pre-defined dimensions revealed that financial issues, education of both patients and professionals, availability of services as well as health promotion are the most important unmet needs.
The results suggest that future care models should focus on individual patient needs and promote their active involvement. The results of the study are translated into practical recommendations to be used for systematic implementation.